Major League Baseball announced Friday morning that the Giants will host the 2028 All-Star Game at Oracle Park in San Francisco. It’ll be the Giants’ fourth time hosting the Midsummer Classic but their first since the 2007 season. (The 2027 All-Star Game is set to be hosted by the Cubs at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.)
“Major League Baseball is pleased to award the 2028 All-Star Game to the San Francisco Giants,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a press release this morning. “With its passionate fanbase, world-class ballpark, and rich baseball history, San Francisco will be an outstanding host for All-Star Week, which culminates in one of Major League Baseball’s best traditions, the Midsummer Classic. We look forward to bringing the excitement of All-Star Week and the celebration of baseball to the Bay Area.”
The league’s press release has yet to make a formal indication of this, but it seems likely that the 2028 Summer Olympics are a prominent factor in the decision. Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have been discussing the possibility of MLB players returning to the Olympic stage that summer. No formal agreement has been reached, but Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote last month that San Francisco’s Oracle Park could stand to benefit from those talks.
Slusser reported at the time that MLB’s preference would be an All-Star host on the West Coast to provide shorter travel for stars who go right from the All-Star festivities to the Olympics, which will be hosted in Los Angeles. Other West Coast venues (e.g. Chase Field, Petco Park) have hosted the All-Star Game more recently than the Giants.
“The San Francisco Giants are incredibly honored to host the 2028 MLB All-Star Game at Oracle Park,” team president and CEO Larry Baer said in his own statement. “We’re thrilled to welcome the baseball world to San Francisco and showcase our city, our organization, and our incredible fans. We’re grateful to Major League Baseball for this opportunity and look forward to creating an unforgettable All-Star experience for fans from San Francisco and around the world.”
