Major League Baseball officially awarded the 2028 All-Star Game to Oracle Park in San Francisco, diverting from its loosely rotational plan of taking the Midsummer Classic from city to city to facilitate the possible use of its players in the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The game returns to San Francisco for the first time since 2007, and commissioner Rob Manfred has acknowledged the relatively quick return to the Bay Area for the big game would boost the chances MLB players could toggle from the All-Star break to the Summer Games in Los Angeles, with the baseball portion held at Dodger Stadium.
Creating a multiple-week block of high-ratings exhibition baseball will result in a longer midseason shutdown, but players have expressed interest in participating in Olympic ball. Their participation has become a bargaining point in negotiations with the league ahd the MLB Players' Association during collective bargaining talks.
This will mark the fourth All-Star Game in San Francisco, with the first two held at Candlestick Park. The 2027 game will be at Chicago's Wrigley Field, while Toronto, Baltimore and Boston have expressed significant interest in hosting games in the near future.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2028 MLB All-Star Game awarded to San Francisco with eye on LA Olympics