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While MLB and the Phillies are leaning heavily into the past for the upcoming All-Star Game, the many changes in and around this year’s event also signal a desire to get the present and future right.
The league will amplify its preparations this week for the midseason showcase in Philadelphia, which will begin in earnest this weekend. Traditionally the most prominent of the all-star games among major U.S. pro leagues, this year’s run of events will feature a series of shifts in its scheduling, competition formats, and its presentation.
“We’ve had a number of different iterations over the years, and you never want to stay still,” MLB SVP of global operations and events Jeremiah Yolkut tells Front Office Sports. “What we’re doing is going to allow us to try some new things and still have several days of compelling activity at [Citizens Bank Park].”
A New-Look Derby
Arguably the most visible changes will center around the Home Run Derby. The home run-hitting contest will be streamed exclusively on Netflix after a three-year rights deal struck last year. With that new pact, there is also a major format change: the timer used for derby competitors since 2015 has been scrapped. Instead, each hitter will have 20 swings in the first round, and 15 in the second round and final. If a hitter homers on their final swing, the turn continues until he fails to homer.
MLB, however, believes this will not create a backslide to the pre-2015 era when the derby often dragged on and the first round alone frequently required two hours to complete.
“We think there’s still going to be an urgency to the competition,” Yolkut says. “The impact of the pitch clock is still going to be felt, as players, by and large, have all come up now in an era with it.”
As of early Monday, the only confirmed participant in the derby is Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, but more names are expected in the coming days. Phillies star Bryce Harper, the 2018 derby winner while still with the Nationals, has shown interest, and the host club is very likely to have at least one competitor.
A Different Draft
Media changes are also helping prompt a different timing for the 2026 MLB draft. After previously being staged on a Sunday evening and not competing with any MLB games, this year’s draft is set to start at 1 p.m. ET on July 11.
NBC and Peacock, back with MLB rights this year and flexing them wherever possible, will air the start of the draft. That event, however, runs up against several MLB games scheduled for Saturday afternoon, including two starting at 2:10 p.m. ET.
The White Sox have the first pick after winning the draft lottery in the offseason, and are expected to select UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, though Texas high schooler Grady Emerson has also been elevating on recent mock draft boards.
That selection of Emerson could be among the last of its type, as MLB team owners recently proposed in ongoing labor negotiations with the MLB Players Association to make U.S.-born players younger than 20 ineligible for the draft.
Shifting Sunday
Sunday’s activities at Citizens Bank Park, meanwhile, will include the traditional All-Star Futures Game, featuring top-performing minor-league prospects, and a new entry of MLBx: All-Star 3-on-3.
The latter event, developed in partnership with AUSL, is a co-ed competition that will feature stars from the softball league, Phillies legends, and even current Eagles receiver Devonta Smith and former NFL star Terrell Owens. MLBx, showcased in recent years at several league international events, is an alternative baseball format involving three-person teams, a focus on home-run hitting, and an even quicker pace of play.
While Sunday ballpark attendance has been a hit-or-miss affair in prior MLB All-Star Game markets, the league says more than 42,000 tickets have already been sold for this day’s events in Philadelphia. That will be followed by the traditionally full crowds for next Monday’s Home Run Derby and next Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
“It doesn’t take much for Phillies fans to come out to Citizens Bank Park,” Yolkut says. “It’s going to be a very lively environment there.”
Leaning Into History
Despite the various alterations, there remains a constant to the MLB All-Star Game theming: leaning heavily into history and the 250th anniversary of American independence. The Phillies landed the hosting rights for this year’s midsummer classic back in early 2019, several years ahead of the typical league cadence for site placements, to lean directly into Philadelphia’s status as the site where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
That commemoration will be all over the presentation of the individual events. In particular, the routing for next Tuesday’s Red Carpet Show will center around Independence Hall in downtown Philadelphia
“We’ve been at the forefront of a lot of the 250th celebrations, and it’s going to be a great moment to see our best players in such an iconic and historic setting,” Yolkut says.
Viewership Watch
Among the questions surrounding the All-Star Game is whether MLB can ride its recent wave of viewership growth and reclaim its traditional crown of having the most-watched event of this type.
For many years, MLB has had little competition in this area while other pro leagues have increasingly struggled with their comparable events, and frequently tinkered with the competition formats.
The NBA’s pivot this past season to a round-robin, globally oriented competition, along with a media shift to NBC Sports platforms, saw a near-doubling in the audience to 8.8 million. That surpassed the 7.2 million viewers on average that watched last year’s MLB All-Star Game on Fox, which ended in a dramatic swing-off tiebreaker.
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