After taking place at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, the Midsummer Classic will move to Seattle’s T-Mobile Park in 2023, while the Philadelphia Phillies are set to host the 2026 game at Citizens Bank Park. The 2024 and 2025 races are also thought to be in the works, but have not been publicly awarded. As part of the selection process, the Blue Jays must present a hospitality plan to MLB with information on hotels, convention space and potential fan festival events, among other items. Usually, the bids have some support from the local government. An MLB spokesman declined to discuss future all-star games. The Blue Jays have hosted the event just once, in 1991 during the dome’s second full season, and are sure to mount another one. That contest was a 4-2 American League victory, with Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. MVP of the game. The festivities surrounding the event have grown significantly since then, with the Futures Game and draft now part of the week along with the home run derby, fan festival and game. Hosting the all-star game would be an opportunity to showcase a renovation for the dome that is expected to begin this fall and take place over two offseasons. Final plans are not yet known, but initial discussions have included rebuilding the outdoor area with raised balustrades and asymmetrical walls this winter (some season ticket holders were recently told they would be relocated in 2023). The rest of the lower bowl reset will begin in the following offseason. Aside from 1991, the only other all-star game outside the United States was hosted by the Montreal Expos at Olympic Stadium in 1982, a 4-1 National League triumph in which Dave Concepcion was MVP.
