Susan Slusser, J.D. Morris, Staff Writers | San Francisco Chronicle
Major League Baseball has decided to award the 2028 All-Star Game to San Francisco — without waiting to determine whether big-league players will participate in the Olympics in Los Angeles.
The Chronicle first reported in July 2025 that Oracle Park would host the event should MLB players get the OK for the Olympics, but the Players Association and the league are still hashing those details out. But at least one major item is settled: In 2028, the All-Star Game will be back at Third and King streets, no matter what.
Oracle Park will show off the sport’s biggest stars on July 12, the anticipated date, and in the days after that. baseball will return to the Olympics in some fashion for the first time since 2020 in Tokyo, but the city’s All-Star bid is no longer tied to Los Angeles 2028.
“What we’re really excited about is there will be a big celebration of baseball on the West Coast,” said Giants president and CEO Larry Baer. “All the scheduling has not been nailed down, but everybody’s working on it.”
MLB’s decision to confirm San Francisco as the host in 2028 came after a behind-the-scenes push from Mayor Daniel Lurie, an avid Giants fan with close ties to the team. Lurie’s first chief of staff was a former Giants executive, and Baer sits on a business group that talks to the mayor about economic issues.
Lurie made a full-throated pitch in a May 28 letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, and the mayor also spoke to Manfred on a 15-minute phone call two weeks ago, according to his schedule. In the letter, Lurie called San Francisco “the ideal stage for the Midsummer Classic,” touting the prominent role the sport has played in the city’s history.
“In a city defined by constant evolution — from the Gold Rush to the Tech Boom — baseball has long been one of our most enduring sources of common ground,” Lurie said before mentioning Hall of Famers who played in San Francisco, including Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal and Orlando Cepeda. Notably, Lurie did not name Barry Bonds, who has repeatedly failed to make the Hall of Fame due to his association with the league’s steroid era.
Lurie said San Francisco was experiencing a “remarkable resurgence” on his watch, pointing to improving attitudes about the direction of the city, recent signs of life in the long-struggling office market and the tidal wave of venture capital funding sweeping through town amid the AI boom. He described San Francisco as “one of the world’s premier destinations for major events” because of its tourist-serving infrastructure.
San Francisco is having a big-stage sports moment, as Lurie noted. The city drew national praise for its part in hosting the Super Bowl — played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara — and numerous World Cup events were held downtown. Last year’s NBA All-Star Game was at Chase Center in San Francisco.
“The city has done a really good job with the NBA All-Star Game, the Super Bowl, the World Cup locations in San Francisco,” Baer said. “There’s a lot of pride in being able to do this — San Francisco is on a roll, that’s going to be a theme.”
The mayor said San Francisco would be “an active and enthusiastic partner in making All-Star Week 2028 an exceptional experience for players, fans, and the baseball community.”
“My administration looks forward to working hand-in-hand with Major League Baseball, our city agencies, our destination management organization, and our business community to deliver an All-Star Week worthy of this great game and this great city — and to share San Francisco’s renaissance with millions of fans around the world,” he wrote.
The host city needs ample time to find venues for the many auxiliary events around the All-Star Game, including the major-league draft and the fanfest. There are security considerations, ballpark preparations and other planning that must be finalized.
“The city really came together between the mayor’s office and SF Travel,” Baer said. “We’re grateful to the commissioner’s office as well for hanging in there with us and we hung in there with them. Together, we got over the finish line.”
MLB chose Oracle Park largely because the All-Star Game will be held at the start of the anticipated 11-day Olympic break, and holding the event near Los Angeles will make travel and planning easier for the players, coaches and officials involved in both endeavors.
At last month’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia, union chief Bruce Meyer said the talks about big-leaguers participating are “at a very early stage.” The Players Association has concerns about MLB’s plans to discipline any healthy players who are selected for the Olympics but who choose not to participate.
San Francisco last hosted the All-Star Game in 2007, when the stadium was called AT&T Park, and there are several teams that have waited longer for the event. Toronto, the reigning AL champion, hasn’t held the All-Star Game since 1991 and had been considered the 2028 favorite. The Blue Jays likely will get the 2029 game instead.
Baer pointed out that San Francisco has changed significantly since that 2007 All-Star Game, especially the Mission Rock area next to the ballpark. There are more nearby restaurants and bars for fans, transit has improved, and the Bay Trail has made the city easier to navigate by foot.
“San Francisco is a different city than it was in 2007 and increasingly in powerfully good ways,” Baer said.
While the Giants will play host, the All-Star Game is run by MLB, which handles ticketing. Season-ticket holders typically have improved access to the All-Star Game, Home Run Derby and Futures Game, but in Philadelphia this year, demand outstripped inventory, in part because the league also provides tickets to sponsors and other stakeholders.
“Not everybody is going to be able to attend the game that might want to,” Baer said, “but between the fanfests and the activities and parties and festivals, events in public parks, there will be plenty of opportunities to touch All-Star Week.”
Next year’s All-Star Game is scheduled for Wrigley Field, assuming labor issues don’t cost the sport a large chunk of the season. The Cubs had last played host to All-Star weekend in 1990.
