Mariners president says All-Star week will be 'bigger and broader in scale' than 2001
SEATTLE — Mariners President Catie Griggs wasn’t in Seattle in 2001, but she acknowledged the upcoming Major League Baseball All-Star week will be “bigger and broader in scale” than what fans remember from the last time the midsummer classic came to town.
This July will mark the third time the All-Star Game will be played in Seattle, but the first time, with four ticketed events, at what is now T-Mobile Park.
“I think I started planning it the day I started working here in August of ’21,” Griggs said during a recent visit on an M’s off-day. “I think the early expectation was that we'd likely be looking at ’24 (or) ‘25. But when the opportunity came in 2023, we looked at it.”
It meant working with the Seattle Sports Commission to lay out a vision for staging multiple events, on a grander scale than ever before, and making sure MLB had enough hotel rooms. According to Visit Seattle, the MLB requests 19,000 hotel room nights within walking distance.
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The league has already announced four event dates at the ballpark: The HBCU Swingman Classic, the celebrity and futures games, the Home Run Derby and the game itself. But additionally, the MLB Draft will also be held in Seattle during the week and the “PlayBall Park,” which used to be known as fanfest, will happen next door at Lumen Field.
With so much going on in SODO, it also lined up with M’s long-range goals to activate the spaces near the stadium. That’s why they’ve leased and developed the Hat Back Bar and Grille, Steelheads Alley and Box Yard complex across First Avenue. There will also be an MLB ASG team store and baseball/softball training complex in the old Great Floors building.
That is in addition to the millions the franchise has also spent renovating the premium spaces inside the stadium, like the Diamond Club and Press Club behind home plate. As Griggs acknowledges now, “Trying to get them all wrapped in time for the All-Star Game was a priority.”
Pike Place Market is also expected to be the home of a red carpet event prior to the All-Star Game, as the MLB plans to activate multiple venues for the broadcasts.
“One of the things that they were most attracted to about Seattle is the walkability of our downtown and having the opportunity to really have just a festival of baseball and softball between T-Mobile Park and Lumen field is something that was a priority for them and a priority for us.”
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Griggs also says the development around the stadium was designed with increasing foot traffic to the neighborhood. The pandemic was especially hard on SODO, and the franchise has surveyed fans over safety before and after games.
“One of the reasons we made the investment across the street at the Box Yard is we recognize that for people to want to come spend time there needs to be things for them to do and they need to feel good about doing it," Griggs said. "So sometimes it's about investing ahead of the curve, and ensuring they're things where fans want to come. We’re already seeing that across the street, but we're also working with everyone in terms of, OK, how do we actually take advantage of this to really push forward a lot of initiatives that all have already are underway, recognizing that this is a line in the sand where we all know? We need to be ready."
The All-Star week in July is the first of three major sporting events already announced for SODO. The NHL’s Winter Classic will be played at T-Mobile Park on Jan. 1 and the FIFA World Cup is coming to Seattle in the summer of 2026.