Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles has been awarded hosting rights for the 2020 edition of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game.
It will mark the first time that the stadium, home to the Los Angeles Dodgers, has hosted the event since 1980. The team has staged the game on two other occasions – at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1959 and Ebbets Field in Brooklyn in 1949.
The All-Star Week will be a four-day event, with a fan festival and other related activities to form part of the festivities.
Dodger Stadium has received a number of upgrades in recent years, with two new entrance plazas, tiered seating and bar areas having been added, along with new video screens and a sound system.
Dodgers president and chief executive Stan Kasten said: “We've made no secret that bringing an All-Star Game back to Los Angeles was a priority for our ownership group, and we couldn't be more excited for Dodger fans and to showcase Dodger Stadium and Los Angeles to a worldwide audience in 2020.
“We'd like to thank commissioner Rob Manfred, Mayor Eric Garcetti and councilmember Gil Cedillo for their efforts to secure this premier sporting event for our community, which will benefit from baseball's legacy youth programs for years to come.”
Manfred added: “As last year's World Series demonstrated, Dodger Stadium remains one of our game's classic ballparks, and it will be a perfect venue to showcase the very best of the national pastime. I congratulate the Dodgers organisation and the leaders of Los Angeles on putting together an outstanding bid to host the All-Star festivities.”
Last year’s All-Star Game was held at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida, with the 2018 game scheduled for July 17 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians, will host in 2019 before the event heads to Dodger Stadium the following year.
