Dyersville, Iowa – The Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa, will not be a one-time event, as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday the league would return to the Hawkeye State next year.
The Chicago White Sox earned a 9-8 victory over the New York Yankees amid the corn fields Thursday thanks to Tim Anderson’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning.
“I think the reception that this event has received has been so positive that we will be back,” Manfred said before the game. “I think it’s pretty clear we’re going to be back next year and we’ll have to talk about it after that. But it’s just been so successful that it’s hard not to take the opportunity to do it again.”
He did not say which teams would be playing but said the game would happen in August.
The organizers of Thursday’s contest are also on board for bringing the majors back to Iowa next summer.
According to the Des Moines Register, Go the Distance, which owns the “Field of Dreams” movie site and helped set up the game between the Yankees and White Sox, has already begun talks with the Chicago Cubs to bring them to the venue next.
Cubs manager David Ross all but confirmed it Wednesday when he said, “We’re in that next year, right?”
The Sports Business Journal reports that Fox will earn more in advertising sales for this one game than any other regular-season game in its 25-year history of broadcasting MLB contests.
Putting on a game of this type is a logistical challenge. This year, Go the Distance actually had a second field constructed next to the original movie set, which will seat up to 8,000 spectators. But much of that structure, including locker rooms, lights and bleachers, are temporary due to the cost of maintenance.
Bringing in more income from MLB might lead to a more permanent solution. Go the Distance wants to turn the game into an annual event, along with hosting games across all levels of baseball.
“Our main goal here,” Go the Distance director of operations Roman Weinberg said, “is to preserve the Field of Dreams but also to keep it on the map for years to come.”
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