{"id":195704,"date":"2026-02-27T01:04:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T01:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/195704\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T01:04:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T01:04:26","slug":"the-2028-mlb-all-star-game-could-be-on-its-way-to-san-francisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/195704\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2028 MLB All-Star Game could be on its way to San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2014 The Bay Area has become a destination for major sporting events, from the 2025 NBA All-Star Game to this month\u2019s Super Bowl, next month\u2019s March Madness West Regional, and the FIFA World Cup coming in June.<\/p>\n

The list could very easily grow with the Giants hosting one of Major League Baseball\u2019s marquee showcases: the 2028 All-Star Game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just the game, which would be played at Oracle Park. MLB has several events during All-Star week, including the Futures Game, amateur draft, Home Run Derby, red carpet parade, and FanFest, which lasts several days as a prelude to the main attraction.<\/p>\n

The economic impact to San Francisco and the surrounding areas could top $100 million, and the Giants and baseball fans throughout the region would stand to benefit in various forms. The Giants hosted the 2007 All-Star Game, and memories remain intact for longtime fans even if nobody in the Home Run Derby hit a ball over the big brick wall in right field, let alone into McCovey Cove.<\/p>\n

An All-Star Game in San Francisco is contingent on whether major-league players partake in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, and momentum continues to grow for participation to become a reality. Negotiations are underway between the league and the players\u2019 union, as well as Olympic representatives, regarding how it all would play out.<\/p>\n

Sources familiar with the planning process told The Standard that if big-league players get the OK to compete in the Olympics, the Giants would be favored to host the All-Star Game. One source went so far as to suggest it would be a lock.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Chronicle was first to report that Oracle Park would be the front-runner to host the game.<\/p>\n

With conversations ongoing and many moving parts, the All-Star Game is one piece to a larger puzzle. If all works out for the Giants, All-Star festivities would be in San Francisco in mid-July 2028. The Olympic baseball tournament would follow in L.A., a six-nation, weeklong event at Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people have come to appreciate that the Olympics on U.S. soil is a unique marketing opportunity for the game,\u201d Commissioner Rob Manfred said at the recent owners meetings in Florida. \u201cI think we\u2019ve got a lot of players interested in doing it. I\u2019m feeling pretty good about the idea we\u2019ll get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s All-Star Game is in Philadelphia, and next year\u2019s will be at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The announcement for the 2028 game will come only after it\u2019s officially known if big-leaguers will play in the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Because the Giants hosted the game just 19 years ago, they were behind other teams in the All-Star rotation, including Toronto (which last hosted in 1991), Baltimore (1993), and Boston (1999). But because the preference for the 2028 game is a venue closer to L.A., the Giants \u2014 who had been applying to host the game ASAP \u2014 would cut the line.<\/p>\n

1 day ago<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

5 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday, Feb. 17<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

For logistical reasons, the league doesn\u2019t want the All-Star Game too distant from the Olympics, and every other MLB city in the West hosted the game after the Giants did in 2007, including the Mariners (2023), Dodgers (2022), Rockies (2021), Padres (2016), Diamondbacks (2011), and Angels (2010).<\/p>\n

Until now, Team USA included minor-leaguers and college players in the Olympics, because MLB didn\u2019t want to disrupt its summer schedule to allow its players to fly around the world. Now that the Olympics are in the U.S. and the league\u2019s marketing folks have international aspirations, it\u2019s the right time to showcase MLB\u2019s premier players on the global stage.<\/p>\n

Simply put, the stars align for the superstars to shine.<\/p>\n

Manfred said the league continues discussions with the players union about \u201csome issues \u2026 that we just need to resolve\u201d \u2013 including insurance and scheduling matters \u2013 but added, \u201cI sense a lot of momentum toward playing in L.A. in 2028.\u00a0I think we\u2019re going to get over those issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

An extended break in the middle of the season would be necessary. Most of the league\u2019s 780 players wouldn\u2019t participate in the All-Star Game or Olympics, and it would be an unusually long hiatus with concerns over their timing and conditioning. But for the premier players, it would be a rare opportunity to be showcased not just on the national stage in the All-Star Game but on the world stage at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, All-Star Games are held on a Tuesday, and if that remains the case in 2028, a game in San Francisco could be July 11. Then attention would turn to the Olympics for the weeklong tournament. MLB\u2019s regular season would resume shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n

The Giants are in the process of upgrading Oracle Park as part of their collaboration with Sixth Street Partners, a private equity firm that purchased 10% of the team last March. The upgrades would be timely for the 2028 All-Star Game, though they had been in motion before the All-Star possibility emerged.<\/p>\n

As the host nation, the U.S. would get an automatic Olympic berth. Two additional countries from the Americas would qualify as the top finishers in the World Baseball Classic. The competition includes Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, and Colombia.<\/p>\n

The last time the Giants hosted the All-Star Game, it generated five days of revelry and more than $60 million in economic impact to the city. On the field, Vladimir Guerrero Sr. won the Home Run Derby, and Ichiro Suzuki was named All-Star MVP after hitting an inside-the-park home run that highlighted the quirkiness of what then was known as AT&T Park.<\/p>\n

Willie Mays, then 76, was the focus of an emotional pregame tribute \u2013 he entered from center field (naturally) and was flanked by Barry Bonds and Derek Jeter before throwing the ceremonial first pitch, then took a lap in a Cadillac convertible from 1958, the Giants\u2019 first year in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Bonds played in his 13th and final All-Star Game, getting mad love from Giants fans and going 0 for 2 with a long drive to the wall in left field. Bonds didn\u2019t participate in the derby the night before the game, instead attending a South of Market party featuring rapper Jay-Z that lasted well into the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The attendance at the game was 43,965, and millions more watched from afar. By the time the 2028 All-Star Game arrives, the Giants hope to be a more competitive team that contends annually for the postseason.<\/p>\n

Logan Webb, whose Giants contract runs through 2028, could be considered an early candidate for the Olympics. He\u2019s participating in this year\u2019s WBC, and his Team USA will work out Monday at Papago Park, the Giants\u2019 complex, and play an exhibition against the Giants on Tuesday at Scottsdale Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,4820,103,102,104,106,105,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-195704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-san-francisco","9":"tag-san-francisco-giants","10":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","11":"tag-san-francisco-news","12":"tag-sf","13":"tag-sf-headlines","14":"tag-sf-news","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}