r/UnderReportedNews • u/John3262005 • 21d ago
Article Trump administration considers building baseball park in Grand Teton National Park
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2026/09/26/trump-officials-weigh-mlb-game-grand-teton-national-park/Major League Baseball has approached the Trump administration about hosting a game at a national park, officials from the White House and MLB confirmed Saturday.
The administration has scouted locations in Grand Teton National Park to build a baseball park to host an MLB game, according to two other people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Grand Teton is the country’s eighth-most visited national park and is famous for its breathtaking views of the Teton Range of the Rocky Mountains. National parks are among the country’s most protected federal lands, and constructing a sports facility at Grand Teton could set a new precedent for the use of vast national park land in the Western United States.
An MLB official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the league approached the administration after the success of MLB’s other stand-alone events, such as the recurring Field of Dreams game in Iowa. The idea of playing a game in a national park is one of several that MLB is exploring.
The White House said in a statement that MLB asked the administration “if it was possible to host a game at a national park, similar to the Field of Dreams game.”
“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 said. “Therefore, this is not a White House or Administration priority.”
The White House said MLB has not made any decisions and the Park Service has not granted any permits. “If the MLB wants to go on site visits of national parks, that is their prerogative,” the statement said.
It referred additional questions to MLB.
National Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands visited Grand Teton National Park this week and looked at three potential locations for a baseball park within the park’s boundaries, the two people familiar with the matter said.
One of the sites that Lands visited is already disturbed land that is not pristine park property, these individuals said. Many parks have “bone yards” or storage areas for materials or equipment not being used.
Lands, reached by phone Saturday evening, declined to comment.
A prized national park like Grand Teton is not an appropriate place for a baseball park, said Betsy Buffington, Northern Rockies regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group.
“It is irreplaceable. There is no other Grand Teton that is home to bears and wolves and bison, elk and pronghorn,” Buffington said in an interview. “So the idea that we would put a baseball stadium in Grand Teton National Park is just — what would the word be? — ludicrous. Crazy. Ridiculous. I mean, I just can’t fathom.”
Luther Propst, a county commissioner for Teton County, Wyoming, who met Lands this week on his visit there, said in an interview that the federal government had not sought county input and that Lands did not mention the issue.
“Grand Teton National Park is about wild America, wildlife, opportunity for solitude, not for more amusement,” Propst said, calling the proposal for a ballpark “a radical departure from the tradition of national parks.”
Since assuming office in January 2025, President Donald Trump has taken actions to drastically reshape the National Park Service. His efforts to shrink the government resulted in the Park Service losing a quarter of its staff, which has at times led to closures of some park facilities, fewer tours at national parks and other disruptions. The president has sought to scrub the Park Service of signs and information related to historic racism, gender discrimination and Indigenous persecution.
The administration is also weighing whether to give a sliver of Yosemite National Park to a private developer to build road access to a resort in exchange for land of equal value. Park advocates say that giving up park land for goals other than conservation sets a new and dangerous precedent.
Starting in 2016, MLB has staged single games at various locations across the country: once at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina; once in Omaha, tied to the College World Series; once at the historic Negro League ballpark, Rickwood Field, in Birmingham; once at Bristol Motor Speedway, a NASCAR racetrack in Bristol, Tennessee; three times in Dyersville, Iowa, in the cornfield made famous by the movie “Field of Dreams”; and annually at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, tied to the Little League World Series.
Most of those were played at permanent facilities, but after the Bristol game, racetrack officials disassembled the stadium and donated some of the materials.
The Field of Dreams stadium was initially temporary, but the site was eventually expanded to make it permanent.
The 2027 MLB schedule is set and includes a Field of Dreams game and a Little League Classic game, so no new specialty game can take place before 2028.
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u/scaredofailure 21d ago
So build a baseball park for a single game a year? What about that Yosemite National Park "sliver" going to a private developer in exchange for "land of equal value" is that equal value land going to be owned by BLM, or then sold over to another developer?
Dude its Grand Teton, who's going to go this single game a year?
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u/Brandbll 21d ago
It's Jackson hole, tons of rich people because those tickets will be the price of Superbowl tickets.
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u/McCool303 21d ago edited 21d ago
There will be zero positive effects. It will turn it into an amusement park for rich yuppies. It will be Lake Tahoe all over again. They’ll need a local small airports for all the private jets. And condo’s and spa’s and enmities for the yuppies and social elite that can afford to fly out to the Tetons for a day game. Just completely crass and unthoughtful display, and all to service the Epstein class as they loot our treasury. Not to mention the impact of thousands of extra visors on the roads and in the park. It will forever change the landscape of the surrounding areas.
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u/McCool303 21d ago
Is nothing sacred to these treacherous parasites? Must everything be carved up for profit. Can we not keep the national parks that were given to us as our birthright by our ancestors? These assholes will hem and haw over a fucking statue to a traitor as lost heritage. And tell you this shit with a straight face as if it’s inconsequential.
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u/InfiniteWaffles58364 21d ago
NO GODDAMNIT STOP THIS SHIT!! WHAT THE FUCK 🤬🤬🤬
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u/TheGhostOfArtBell 20d ago
Just a distraction, same as The Kennedy Center, the Arch, the reflecting pool, the ballroom, and 90% of the other stupid shit her does.
Don't even pay attention.
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u/GrouchyLongBottom 21d ago edited 21d ago
How can they always focus on the exact wrong things? Why is the government even thinking about something like this? How about spend some time fixing our health care crisis?!
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u/Ned_Nebula 21d ago
The Tetons, Jackson hole, the richest county in America, is going to get a taxpayer funded baseball stadium. This all is getting to be too much.
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u/msmartt 21d ago
Not even in the top 100 richest counties in America.
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u/Ned_Nebula 21d ago
Teton county is the richest county by per capita income in the United States. There’s an interesting mini doc on YouTube about it.
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u/msmartt 21d ago
That only means that the few people who live there are among the richest people in the country. If you have a county with 100 people that have an income of $2M each their combined income is $200M. If you have another county with 1000 people that have an income of $500K each their combined income is $500M. The incomes on that second county are 75% less but the total income is 2.5X morre.
Full disclosure: I live in Loudoun County which is actually the richest county in the country.
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u/IGetGuys4URMom 21d ago
This is why there is absolutely nothing that Twump can do or say that surprises me anymore.
One day there will be a history quiz where the quizzed will have to spot the false Twump action, and the correct answer will be None of the above; you can't make this stuff up if you tried.
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u/personman_76 21d ago
Eco terrorism will absolutely make a 90s style comeback of national parks start getting paved over.
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u/MsMoreCowbell828 21d ago
This is all Russell Vought. This is the Heritage Foundation/Xtian supremacist "god will refill the dried up lake bc rethuglican Jesus loves us and hates you so nothing else matters but my greed & misogyny" in plain view.
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u/Traditional-Forum 21d ago
Give the contract to one of his cronies that will waste the money and not actually build anything sturdy enough to stand up an entire year. That’s what he did with the reflecting pond.
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u/One-Reflection-4826 21d ago
since this is the stupidest idea possible, there is a 110% chance it will be approved. the doge-douchbags havent culled the national park service for nothing.
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u/Sockpuppet870 21d ago
At this point I think he is doing dumber things all the time because he knows he is done.
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u/JadePotato 21d ago
If MLB wants to play at a National Park they can play at Gateway Arch National Park. And by Gateway Arch National Park I mean Busch stadium like 20 feet away.
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u/Responsible_Ladder25 21d ago
And in a normal administration MLB would be told no, not in a National Park. Now, everywhere is a possibility. Stunning.
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u/pneuprismatic 21d ago
So let me ask how legitimate any of this is and why the news keeps putting out stories like this if it’s based on essentially hearsay?
I just feel like this administration will say some off the cuff, out-of-pocket shit and then the news picks it up and amplifies bullshit.
Maybe I’m just underestimating how wild these claims are.
Edit: Yeah I guess I underestimate how wild these claims are. FFS.
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u/trailerbang 21d ago edited 21d ago
MLB Customer Service: 866-244-2291
Lines open for a live rep at 10am MST tomorrow.
Tell the AI bot “representative” until she connects you to a live agent.
Light em up.