Major League Baseball is eyeing a game at Grand Teton, but federal red tape is slowing down the pitch

Major League Baseball is eyeing its next massive showcase, trading concrete jungles and overpriced stadium beer for pine trees and the iconic peaks of Grand Teton National Park.

Specialty neutral-site games have been massive hits for MLB, but when word leaked that the league was sniffing around federal land, Washington rushed to pump the brakes.

In an official statement, the White House confirmed MLB approached President Donald Trump's administration to ask about hosting a game in a national park, "similar to the Field of Dreams game" in Iowa.

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"This is not a Presidential directive, nor is it being directed by the White House. It’s also not being driven by the Department of Interior," the statement read.

Grand Teton National Park in Moran, Wyo., on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, during the Kansas City Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Tourist Hong Ge takes a photo of Jackson Lake on Oct. 14, 2025, in Grand Teton National Park, Wyo. As the government shutdown hits the two-week mark, with many National Park Service employees furloughed, concern is rising that the parks could be damaged, as has happened in previous shutdowns. (Getty Images)

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"Therefore, this is not a White House or Administration priority."

The White House made sure to add that the National Park Service hasn't granted a single permit, and MLB hasn't finalized a shred of venue planning.

"If the MLB wants to go on site visits of national parks, that is their prerogative," the administration noted.

Washington isn't endorsing a national park game just yet, probably out of fear of taking the heat if a grizzly bear wanders into left field.

And you can’t blame the league for swinging for the fences.

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Baseball fans ate up the Field of Dreams game in Iowa, the Little League Classic in Williamsport, and the historic trip to Rickwood Field in Alabama.

They even took over Bristol Motor Speedway in 2025.

National Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands reportedly visited Wyoming to inspect three prospective sites inside Grand Teton.

Members of the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies emerge from corn in the outfield during the MLB Field of Dreams game on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dyersville, Iowa. (Getty Images)

The White House later claimed Lands wasn't actively scouting baseball diamonds, insisting he was just on a routine tour of several parks.

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Still, trying to turn a dusty federal maintenance yard into a million-dollar TV spectacle sounds like an absolute logistical nightmare. You're talking temporary grandstands, massive light towers, crazy traffic bottlenecks, and keeping local grizzly bears, bison and elk out of the dugout.

A project like this triggers environmental reviews, public comment periods, and mountains of paperwork before anyone touches a shovel.

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Factor in that MLB’s 2027 special-event schedule is already locked, and 2028 is the absolute earliest we’d see a big-league pop fly framed by the Teton Range.

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Alejandro Avila is a longtime writer at OutKick, living in Southern California.