Star Struck: MLB Awards D'Backs 2011 All-Star Game At Chase Field

Phoenix Will Be First Inaugural Host Of All-Star Game Since Rockies In '98

The D'Backs have been awarded the '11 MLB All-Star Game, which will be played July 12, 2011 at Chase Field. The '11 event in Phoeinx will mark the first time that an MLB city will be an inaugural host of the game since the Rockies held the '98 All-Star game at Coors Field in Denver (MLB). In Phoenix, Craig Harris wrote the game "delivers a home run for the region's economy to the tune of about $60[M] in extra spending in the scorching summer season." The All-Star Game also "will be a boon to the Diamondbacks, who like other professional sports teams are facing challenges with ticket sales and sponsorships during a recession." The team "will offer All-Star packages to all of its full-season ticket holders, with the best packages going to fans who have been season-ticket holders the longest." Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau President Steve Moore said that the game and its events "will fill at least 2,300 downtown Phoenix hotel rooms and likely a few thousand more in the Valley." Moore said that MLB "has booked 3,000 rooms." Harris noted ticket availability "will be a lot different" than this year's NBA All-Star Game at US Airways Center, when the NBA "took all but 2,000 of the 18,000 seats." For an MLB All-Star Game, the league "takes 10,000 to 15,000 seats" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/11).

GETTING IN LINE: Selig said the Dodgers, who have not hosted the Midsummer Classic since '81, "are a very viable candidate for an All-Star game, but so are a significant number of others." Selig "made clear that the Dodgers won't be hosting the event when they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of Dodger Stadium in 2012." Selig: "That's an American League year" (L.A. TIMES, 4/12).