MLB Ends Grand Teton Game Talks After Wyoming Officials Object

MLB is no longer considering staging a special-event game at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, quickly ending an early-stage deliberation that generated heavy pushback.

League commissioner Rob Manfred said in a Thursday letter to several local officials that the idea of playing at Grand Teton has been scrapped. 

“It has become clear the local community does not want us to continue evaluating Grand Teton National Park as a national site,” Manfred wrote in a letter to Teton County Commissioner Chair Mark Newcomb, Jackson Mayor Arne Jorgensen, and Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce president Rick Howe. Those officials earlier this week wrote to both Manfred and U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum seeking to block the plan.

“We would obviously not bring a game to a community that has concerns about the venue, and will not continue to evaluate Grand Teton National Park as a potential site,” Manfred continued.

While the study of playing in Grand Teton was in an “initial due diligence” stage, and never neared formal permitting, the public outcry against the plan represented rare friction around MLB’s domestic special-event games. That part of the schedule, which has included games at locations such as the Field of Dreams filming site in Iowa and historic Rickwood Field in Alabama, has been among the most beloved elements of the league’s entire operations. 

Fueled by that ongoing success, MLB previously approached the Trump Administration about the potential viability of playing in a national park, including at Grand Teton. Local leaders and environmental groups, however, quickly raised a series of ecological concerns about building a temporary ballpark within the natural setting.

“Even temporary infrastructure can create lasting impacts through habitat fragmentation, noise and light disturbances, increased human presence in wildlife areas, and strain on park resources,” Newcomb, Jorgensen, and Howe wrote in a joint letter to Secretary Burgum. 

MLB is set to return to Iowa next year for a fourth iteration of the Field of Dreams game. As the 2027 MLB schedule is now set, any special-event decisions for 2028 and beyond will likely wait until after the league and MLB Players Association grapple with a difficult collective bargaining situation.

“We are grateful that Major League Baseball heard the roar of the crowd and rightfully recognized that Grand Teton is already a field of dreams, filled with mountains, forests, wild nature, and wildlife that attracts millions of dedicated fans each year,” Allison Michalski, Grand Teton senior program manager for National Parks Conservation Association, said in a statement.