If you build it, they will come.
For those in the Dominican Republic’s capital of Santo Domingo, “it” is a new ballpark, and “they” would be Major League Baseball regular season games.
A commission appointed by Dominican President Luis Abinader is expected to present a proposal to build a new baseball stadium that meets the requirements to host Major League Baseball regular season games as part of a public-private partnership in Santo Domingo on or near the grounds of Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal on Feb. 19, according to reports from Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes and Dionisio Soldevila of Grandes en Los Deportes.
Informa @Enrique_Rojas1 y @dSoldevila que la comisión creada por el Presidente @luisabinader que preside @jorgesuberoisa da visto bueno para construir nuevo estadio en terrenos del Quisqueya. El 19 de febrero se presentaría plan oficial.
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— Baseball For Today ⚾️ (@BaseballFor2day) February 5, 2026
Currently, the 13,186-seat Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal, built in 1955, is the largest ballpark in the Dominican capital, and hosts both of Santo Domingo’s teams in LIDOM, the Leones del Escogido and the Tigres del Licey. The two teams would be unaffected by the construction of the new stadium, which would be built near the existing stadium and the neighboring Carlos Teo Cruz Coliseo.
The proposal for a new ballpark was developed by an advisory commission appointed by Abinader last June, a body that includes Jorge Subero Isa, Dominican Minister of Sports Kelvin Cruz, the general manager of the Development and Export Bank Catalino Correa Hiciano, LIDOM President Vitelio Mejía Ortiz, as well as Olivo Rodríguez Huertas, Angélica Noboa Pagán, Elka Scheker Mendoza, Julissa Vásquez, and Edgar Torres Reynoso.
In appointing the commission, Abinader’s decree stated, “The Dominican Republic needs sports infrastructure befitting its baseball tradition and its growing international prominence. This project aims to position the country as a destination capable of hosting Major League teams and boosting the urban economy.”
Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal was originally named Estadio Trujillo for the Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, who ruled the country from 1930-61. It has hosted the Leones del Escogido and Tigres del Licey ever since, as well as 10 Caribbean Series. During Major League Baseball’s 2020 spring training, the ballpark hosted a pair of games between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, and in 2024, the park hosted a pair of spring training games between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.
Its design was based almost exactly on that of the now-demolished Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium, which hosted spring training games for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1950-58 and the Baltimore Orioles from 1959-90, various minor league teams, and the 1991 Caribbean Series.
Over the years, Estadio Quisqueya has undergone minor renovations several times, mostly to change the seating configuration and enclose the bullpens.
Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal will host a pair of exhibition games on March 3-4 between the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball and the Dominican Republic’s team that will participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Photo: SA general view during a spring training game between the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal on March 7, 2020 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)
