Big news coming out of Dyersville, Iowa, where the nonprofit owner of the iconic Field of Dreams movie set has landed a $10 million grant to finish a new ballpark, which will be put into use this year for an MLB exhibition and a new Northwoods League team in 2027 and beyond.
After a few false starts and perhaps an overly ambitious plan at development that included other sports and year-round events, the nonprofit Dyersville Events bought the site from Go the Distance Baseball in late 2024, thanks to a state grant. Dyersville Events then group embarked on a plan to build a new permanent ballpark to replace the temporary structure used in the 2021 and 2022 Field of Dreams exhibitions (we were there).
The donation from Andy and Debi Butler, Craig and Lisa Breitbach and the McCoy Group will used to finish the ballpark as well as youth baseball and softball facilities and other outreach efforts. The permanent Field of Dreams ballpark is set to seat 4,000 or so fans, expandable for larger events–like MLB exhibitions.
Which we will see this summer, as the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies are set to play on Aug. 13 in the 2026 Field of Dreams festivities, with the Twins the home team on the event set for a Netflix broadcast. That game will be preceded by the St. Paul Saints and Iowa Cubs game on Aug. 11, with the I-Cubs set as the home team.
Meanwhile, we will see plenty of events at Field of Dreams before the MLB/MiLB matches. In June area high-school teams will inaugurate the field, while in July the summer-collegiate Northwoods League will host two events there: the 2026 Northwoods League All-Star Game on July 8, preceded by the Northwoods League Home Run Challenge on Tuesday, July 7.
Those two events are a prelude to the bigger news: 2027 will see the launch of a new Northwoods League team at Field of Dreams, owned by the current group that also runs Northwoods League teams in Mankato, La Crosse and Rochester.
“There is no place in baseball quite like the Field of Dreams. For our players, coaches, and fans, getting to be part of that story is something truly unique,” said Chris Goodell, team co-owner, in a press statement. “The Northwoods League has always believed that baseball is best experienced in a setting that brings people together, and Field of Dreams Ballpark is exactly that kind of place. We are proud to plant our flag here and build a team that this community can call its own.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Dyersville, Iowa and the iconic Field of Dreams to the Northwoods League family of teams,” said Ryan Voz, Northwoods League president/commissioner, via press release. “As the largest summer collegiate league in the world it is a privilege to be able to bring the tradition of Northwoods League baseball to a place that celebrates the greatest game in spectacular fashion.”
It’s a return to Dubuque for the Northwoods League: the Dubuque Mud Puppies was in the original 1994 five-team inaugural lineup (joining Kenosha, Wausau and Manitowoc, Wis., and Rochester, Minn.). The Mud Puppies lasted three seasons before moving to St. Cloud in 1997, featuring players like Jeff Weaver and Rob Quinlan.
The Northwoods League currently sits at 26 teams, including the Minnesota Mud Puppies travel squad. Joining Dubuque in the 2027 expansion: a Dune Coast team based at a new high-school field in New Buffalo, Michigan. Owned by local resident Brian Williams and Tom Rowland, the team will be marketed to a two‑state region stretching from Valparaiso and Chesterton in Northwest Indiana to St. Joseph and Benton Harbor in Southwest Michigan, including LaPorte, Michigan City, and the villages of Harbor Country.
Why so much attention paid to Iowa cornfields? Field of Dreams is an iconic baseball move, designed to tug the heartstrings of anyone with fond memories of playing catch with their Dad. The central theme is the goodness of baseball as America’s Pastime, with the sport uniting generations and inspiring the likes of Ray Kinsella to create a ballfield in an Iowa cornfield, transforming it to a place where dreams can come true. If you build it, they will come. The 1919 Black Sox, Shoeless Joe Jackson and “Moonlight” Graham—who made a single one-inning MLB appearance, then led a life as a distinguished doctor and educator in northern Minnesota—show up on the field. With the distinguished likes of Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Amy Madigan and Burt Lancaster in the cast, Field of Dreams is both inspirational and entertaining.
Field of Dreams was filmed on a working east-central Iowa farm a half hour outside Dubuque, and after filming the field was maintained, open to anyone who wanted to play catch. The new ballpark and the focus on youth play is the latest iteration of planning to keep baseball alive at a very meaningful location. If you can make it to one of these games, bring a glove and play some catch at the very spot the movie was filmed.
Rendering courtesy Dyersville Events.
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