MLB’s Field of Dreams game is rapidly moving toward becoming a permanent part of the league schedule.
Just hours after completing the 2026 version of the event between the Phillies and Twins on Thursday night, creating another feel-good, nostalgia-filled moment for the sport, the league unveiled plans to return to Iowa in 2027. The fourth version of the Field of Dreams game will involve the Red Sox and Royals on Aug. 12 next year.
While MLB has been careful in many other special-event games to fight against complacency and diminishing returns, the games at the filming site of the 1989 Field of Dreams movie have become something else entirely and are cherished by fans and players alike.
The continuation of Field of Dreams games, meanwhile, will take further advantage of a series of structural upgrades at the Dyersville, Iowa, locale. Those improvements added amenities for both fans and players, including permanent concession stands and locker rooms, but without detracting from the farm setting and expansive cornfields that are core to the appeal of these games.
NBC Sports will have the media rights for next year’s Field of Dreams event after Netflix streamed Thursday’s game exclusively and Fox carried the first two games, held in 2021 and 2022.
Labor Points
Notably, the league’s announcement of its planned resumption of Field of Dreams games is happening despite ongoing labor discord with the MLB Players Association.
All MLB special-event games, and the logistics within them, are governed by rules within the collective bargaining agreement between the league and union. As of now, though, there is no labor deal for 2027 and beyond. In fact, the sides are deeply divided on a series of economic and structural issues, including management’s desire for a salary cap and vastly differing visions for the reserve system, and a management lockout is expected in December.
There is historical precedent to the current situation, however. In August 2021, in the immediate afterglow of the roaring success of the first Field of Dreams game involving the Yankees and White Sox, MLB announced plans for a second event the following year. That happened despite the then-current labor agreement expiring in December 2021.
The labor talks that fall and winter resulted in a 99-day management lockout. The eventual agreement, however, essentially created a structure to help enable the second Field of Dreams games, requiring a series of provisions to ensure major-league standards for players.
In this latest situation, industry sources said this final year of the labor deal also governs the construction of the 2027 schedule, which now includes another Field of Dreams game. It is likely, though, that any subsequent agreement will include further stipulations in and around special-event games.
Separate from any collective bargaining issues, there is strong enthusiasm among MLB players and coaches to make Field of Dreams games a larger and more permanent part of the schedule.
“I definitely would like to have this be for three days instead of one day,” said Phillies star Bryce Harper before his team beat the Twins on Thursday. “I wish it was three days instead of coming in here so quick. It’d be nice to be able to settle down, get the family out there.”
All-Star Planning
MLB, meanwhile, also awarded on Friday the 2028 All-Star Game hosting rights to the Giants and San Francisco’s Oracle Park. This will be the second time the ballpark has hosted the Midsummer Classic, following the 2007 event, and the fourth time the event has been in San Francisco.
The decision, however, is not one made in isolation, as it directly intersects with the league’s efforts to have big leaguers participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. While there is some conceptual agreement between MLB, the MLBPA, and the LA28 organizing committee on the plan, discussions are continuing on a variety of logistical matters, including insurance, security, and player accommodations.
At last month’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia, union interim executive director Bruce Meyer said the Olympics talks are still “at a very early stage,” and among the organization’s concerns are the league’s plan to discipline players who are selected for the Olympics but opt out of participating.
The placement of the All-Star Game that year in San Francisco, however, will allow for easy travel to Los Angeles for the Olympics soon after—should that plan fall into place. Even if it doesn’t, the All-Star Game will extend a run of major sports events held in the Bay Area, including Super Bowl LX in February and part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Next year’s All-Star Game is set for Chicago’s Wrigley Field, though public discussion around that event has been intertwined with the labor situation and whether the 2027 season will be impacted by an extended work stoppage—a consideration that also applies to the next Field of Dreams game. Toronto and Baltimore are now top contenders to get All-Star Games in 2029 and 2030.
