By ANDREW ADAMS
Capitol News Illinois
aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com
CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs will host their fourth Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 2027.
The announcement, made Friday by MLB and Cubs officials, was attended by a cadre of elected officials, including Chicago’s mayor and several Chicago alderpeople, Gov. JB Pritzker, several state lawmakers and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
The 2027 game would give Wrigley Field the record for most games hosted by an active ballpark. Wrigley Field previously hosted the All-Star Game in 1947, 1962 and 1990.
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, a “congenital Sox fan who grew up watching the Cubs on television,” said the news is “terrific.”
“I think any opportunity we have to showcase the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois to a national or international audience — whether its NASCAR or the President’s Cup or the 2027 All-Star Game — is good for all of us,” Harmon, of Oak Park, said.
Wrigley Field, which opened in 1914, underwent a $1 billion renovation project throughout the 2010’s in connection to its efforts to someday host another All-Star Game, according to Cubs executive Crane Kenney.
Senate President Don Harmon, left, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, right, speak to Gov. JB Pritzker, center, near Wrigley Field’s home plate on Aug. 1, 2025. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)
Further upgrades to the security infrastructure around Wrigley are likely coming, with the current plan including $12 million from the state and up to $10 million from the city to install new bollards designed to stop vehicles and move some of the infrastructure in front of Wrigley Field.
“I’m very proud to have worked with the General Assembly to provide security enhancements to bolster public safety around the park,” Pritzker said. “I’m also a proud Cubs fan, so that made it especially easy.”
Cubs chairman and part-owner Tom Ricketts said the state and city have been involved in renovations for longer. Wrigley, nicknamed the Friendly Confines, is located on the city’s North Side, bounded by Clark and Addison streets and Waveland and Sheffield avenues.
“People don’t know this, but Addison is actually a state road,” Ricketts said. “We needed cooperation from the city to move some sidewalks and to help with security efforts. I just really appreciate the governor and the mayor stepping up to make this happen.”
Ricketts emphasized the All-Star Game and other associated events will bring people to the city.
“We’ll have events at Navy Pier, we’ll do the Home Run Derby on the night before, we’ll have other games, and they also bring the Major League Baseball draft,” Ricketts said. “So it’ll be an incredible week for Chicago.”
That’s if the game happens at all. There is increasing tension between MLB players and owners as they approach the end of the current collective bargaining agreement in December 2026.
Once that contract ends, it could result in a lockout and potentially the first canceled regular-season games since a player strike in the mid-90s, not counting games that were canceled during the pandemic. If the season is impacted severely enough, the All-Star Game may be canceled altogether.
The game is scheduled for July 13, 2027.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
