The Cubs are moving ahead with major security upgrades around Wrigley Field, and they’re doing it with the 2027 MLB All-Star Game in mind.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the project carries a price tag of more than $32 million, with the Cubs covering $8 million of that total. The work includes bollards being installed around the ballpark, light poles being relocated and the sidewalk on Addison being widened by several feet. There is also unrelated work taking place inside Wrigley Field, though that kind of project happens every year.
For Cubs fans, construction around the Friendly Confines is hardly a surprise. The ballpark and its surroundings have been in constant flux over the last decade-plus.
But MLB’s security requirements for an All-Star Game host are nonnegotiable, which is why the upgrades are being pushed through this winter. The work is expected to be finished by next April.
That timeline matters because baseball’s labor situation could complicate everything. Owners are set to lock out the players in early December, and there’s plenty of uncertainty about what the 2027 season will look like.
If the season gets shortened enough, the All-Star Game could be canceled. If there’s no 2027 campaign at all, that would obviously change the picture too.
Still, the Cubs are expected to get the event at some point this decade. Reports this summer said the team was “guaranteed” the All-Star Game in 2029 if needed, with the San Francisco Giants lined up to host in 2028. Either way, the work at Wrigley has to get done.
Wrigley last hosted the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby in 1990. The Cubs also tried to land the Midsummer Classic in 2020, but that never happened. Now Tom Ricketts and Crane Kenney are close to finally seeing a long-running goal become reality.
The team spent years trying to get the City of Chicago to help share some of the costs, which shows just how long this project has been in the making. The only question left is whether the 2027 season actually gets played and whether a labor fight ends up pushing the All-Star Game back again.
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