Major League Baseball has approached the Trump administration about hosting a game in a national park “similar to the Field of Dreams game,” with Grand Teton emerging as a potential location, the Washington Post reported. The White House says it is not directing the effort.
The White House said in a statement that the idea is “not being driven by the Department of Interior” either, adding, “This is not a White House or Administration priority.”
The Post reported, citing anonymous sources, that National Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands had looked at three potential locations for a baseball park within Grand Teton. The White House disputed that account, saying it was “incorrect” that the Trump administration sent officials to scout sites and that MLB “happened to schedule their trip to Grand Teton at the same time” Lands was there.
The White House said MLB has made no decisions and the Park Service has issued no permits.
An MLB official told the Post the league approached the Trump administration after the success of its other stand-alone events, such as the recurring Field of Dreams game, and that a national park game is one of several ideas the league is exploring.
MLB has staged specialty games over the past decade at a historic Negro League ballpark in Birmingham, Alabama, a NASCAR racetrack in Tennessee, and three times at the Dyersville, Iowa, cornfield from the classic Kevin Costner movie, “Field of Dreams.” The Post reported that, with the 2027 schedule already locked in, no new specialty game at Grand Teton could happen before 2028.
One of the sites Lands reportedly visited is land that has already been disturbed rather than untouched parkland, according to the Post’s sources. Many parks set aside such areas to store equipment and materials.
Grand Teton, which borders Yellowstone in northwest Wyoming, is one of the most-visited national parks in the country. National parks are among the nation’s most protected federal lands, and the Post noted that building a sports facility there could set a new precedent.
Betsy Buffington, a regional director with the National Parks Conservation Association, told the Post that the idea is “ludicrous,” “crazy,” and “ridiculous.”
“It is irreplaceable,” she said. “There is no other Grand Teton that is home to bears and wolves and bison, elk and pronghorn.”
Teton County Commissioner Luther Propst told the Post that a ballpark would be “a radical departure from the tradition of national parks.”
Economist J.C. Bradbury called it “a uniquely terrible idea.” He estimated that the cost would exceed the more than $50 million spent expanding the Field of Dreams venue in Iowa, and argued that visitors coming for a baseball game would displace other tourists in a park where hotels are already full.
