MLB Won't Host 'Field of Dreams' Game in Iowa During 2023 Regular Season

Despite the popularity of MLB's "Field of Dreams" game, the league will not be returning to the Dyersville, Iowa, complex in 2023.

According to Deadline's Bruce Haring, construction of a youth baseball and softball complex will hinder MLB from hosting a game at Field of Dreams next season, making Thursday night's matchup between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds the last time we'll see the famed ballpark for a while.

Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, who leads a group that purchased a controlling interest in the All-Star Ballpark Heaven and the Field of Dreams movie site last year, announced Wednesday that there won't be a 2023 iteration of the game.

"It’s a lot going on," Thomas told the Des Moines Register. "They don’t want to come back if the stadium’s not prepared."

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced earlier this week that there will be another round of public funding to build a permanent stadium at the site, considering the one being used in tonight's game is temporary. According to Haring, "Reynolds plans to allocate $12.5 million to This is Iowa Ballpark, the nonprofit building the stadium."

Last year's game between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox was an instant sensation. Kevin Costner, who was lead actor in the 1989 Field of Dreams film, opened the game by emerging from the cornfield followed by the two teams in an iconic moment.

Per Haring, it was the most-watched regular-season baseball game in the past 16 years. Haring also noted that a previous study had "predicted that two-thirds of the economic impact of the stadium at the site would come from an annual MLB game there."

In addition to Thursday night's game, two Iowa teams, the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Quad Cities River Bandits, also faced off in the first minor league game at the site earlier this week.