MLB Tells Brewers They Need to Repair American Family Field

Major League Baseball has told the Milwaukee Brewers that they need to repair American Family Field to ensure it remains an MLB-caliber ballpark, “The Dan O’Donnell Show” has learned exclusively. While the league did not give the Brewers an explicit ultimatum, it was made clear that MLB will not allow American Family Field to “deteriorate” as Oakland-Alameda County Stadium (home of the Oakland A’s) has. Last month, the A’s announced a land purchase agreement that will move the team from Oakland to Las Vegas following the 2024 season.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred will be in Milwaukee for the Brewers’ game against the San Francisco Giants Thursday as part of a tour of all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums. A source familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity said Manfred will further outline the league’s expectations when he meets with Brewers officials.

The Brewers said earlier this year that American Family Field needs an estimated $448 million in repairs. The ballpark, which opened, in 2001 as Miller Park, is owned by the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District, a local unit of government that owns and operates the stadium and leases it to the Brewers. The team’s current lease expires in 2030 with five two-year options that could extend it until 2040.

Under the terms of the lease, the District is responsible for “all Major Capital Repairs” and must keep American Family Field in a condition that “can reasonably be said to fall within the ‘top’ twenty-five percent (25%) of all such facilities, when such facilities are ranked or rated according to the quality with which they are repaired and improved.”