The Chicago Cubs have already started to prepare for a potential worst-case scenario.
According to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, the Cubs have been guaranteed an All-Star Game at Wrigley Field in the event that their 2027 plans are ruined by a lockout.
“While there already is rumblings of a potential work stoppage threatening the 2027 All-Star Game at Wrigley Field, the Cubs have been guaranteed that they would host the 2029 game as a contingency plan,” Nightengale wrote.
Issues surrounding a salary cap could spur a work stoppage once the current collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2026. Players and owners have expressed their early views on the topic. But, few individuals have wanted to acknowledge that the schedule could be impacted.
“No one’s talking about it, but we all know that they’re going to lock us out for it, and then we’re going to miss time,” New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso told the Associated Press. “We’re definitely going to fight to not have a salary cap and the league’s obviously not going to like that.”
The issue gained national attention earlier this summer when Philadelphia Phillies All-Star Bryce Harper got into a heated confrontation with commissioner Rob Manfred.
“Rob seems to be in a pretty desperate place on how important it is to get this salary cap because he's floating the word ‘lockout' two years in advance of our collective bargaining agreement [expiration],” Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos told ESPN. “That's nothing to throw around. That's the same thing as me saying in a marriage, ‘I think divorce is a possibility. It's probably going to happen.' You don't just say those things.”
The Cubs last hosted an All-Star Game in 1990. The Midsummer Classic will return to the Windy City this decade, but it could take longer than originally anticipated.
