ATLANTA \u2014 In Major League Baseball\u2019s ideal world, the schedule for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles would look different.<\/p>\n
For the first time, MLB wants its players to participate in the games, rather than leaving the competition to non-big leaguers. Baseball at the Olympics in \u201928 is set for July 15-20 at Dodger Stadium, the competition\u2019s organizing body, LA28, announced on Monday. But that isn\u2019t ideal for MLB, which also wants to host its All-Star Game in mid-July 2028 as it normally does and avoid a break that greatly extends the length of the season.<\/p>\n
The league hasn\u2019t announced a date or host city for the \u201928 All-Star Game yet, but All-Star Games typically fall on a mid-July Tuesday, making July 11, 2028 a likely date. That would be three days before the Olympic opening ceremony on July 14, potentially creating a longer downtime than the league or players want.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey put out a schedule, they tell you it\u2019s not going to move,\u201d commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday before this year\u2019s Midsummer Classic. \u201cWe\u2019ll see whether there\u2019s any movement on that. \u2026 It is an opportunity to market the game on a really global stage. We\u2019re trying to iron through those logistics.\u201d<\/p>\n
A preferred path for MLB could be starting Olympic baseball games sooner. It\u2019s unclear if MLB would consider moving the All-Star Game, but the league also has to factor in its obligations to FOX, which broadcasts the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is possible to play the All-Star Game in its normal spot, have a single break that would be longer, obviously, but still play 162 games without bleeding into the middle of November,\u201d Manfred said. \u201cThat is possible, OK? It would require significant accommodations, but it\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
MLB met with LA28 on Monday. Manfred said he is particularly interested in having MLB participate in these Olympics because the logistics are easier to pull off domestically.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat process continues forward in a positive way,\u201d Manfred said. \u201cThat\u2019s the best I can tell you right now. Obviously, the clubs are going to have to endorse this. I mean, it is a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
LA28 did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Manfred said the league will have upcoming talks with the Players Association as well. MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said Tuesday that players are interested, but that a lot of details remain unclear.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the event that major-league players are going to play, what does that mean, and what does that look like?\u201d Clark said. \u201cAnd perhaps just as importantly, what does it mean for those players who aren\u2019t participating? What type of scheduling adjustments need to be made, what type of travel considerations and support need to be considered? What does that mean in regards to insurance?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just a lot of conversation that needs to be had sooner rather than later to see how viable this is, but we\u2019re hopeful that we can figure our way through it for the benefit of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Top photo of Rob Manfred earlier this week at the draft: Jamie Squire \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA \u2014 In Major League Baseball\u2019s ideal world, the schedule for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":67351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2502,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-67350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114863214783639229","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}