For the past several years Red Sox ownership has been upfront about its desire to host another All-Star Game at Fenway Park, but with this week’s announcement that the 2025 All-Star Game will be played in Atlanta, Boston is going to have to wait a little while longer.

Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Thursday that the 2025 Midsummer Classic will be played at Atlanta’s Truist Park, which was originally scheduled to host the 2021 edition before the game was abruptly moved to Colorado in response to Georgia’s controversial new voting laws.

With next year’s game being hosted by the Texas Rangers, the following year’s by Atlanta and the 2026 game by the Philadelphia Phillies, the soonest the All-Star Game could return to Boston is in 2027, nearly 30 years since the city last hosted in 1999.

Disappointing as the news was, it wasn’t surprising and could ultimately work out to Boston’s benefit.

Heading into this year the Rangers and Braves were widely considered the frontrunners to land the 2024 and 2025 All-Star Games. Texas recently opened its brand new Globe Life Park in 2020 and Atlanta’s Truist Park debuted not long before in 2017. MLB has historically tried to use the Midsummer Classic as a way to showcase its newest venues along with its brightest stars, and the Rangers and Braves check both of those boxes in spades.

As for 2026, Philadelphia locked down that date years ago to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

In the meantime, the Red Sox expect work on the recently-approved Fenway Corners project to ramp up in the coming years, so if the All-Star Game had been awarded to Boston there’s a chance it could have been played in the middle of a large-scale construction zone.

That work should be complete by the time the All-Star Game does eventually return to Boston, allowing the Red Sox and the city to fully showcase the transformative changes that have come to Fenway Park since the 1999 All-Star Game.

Over the past two-plus decades since that event the Red Sox have added the Green Monster seats, the right field roof deck, the Truly Terrace and the 521 Overlook. They’ve installed new seats, video boards and stadium lights and massively improved the stadium’s concourse and dining options. The neighborhood surrounding Fenway has already seen significant development and once the $1.6 billion Fenway Corners project is complete the area could become one of the most vibrant parts of the city.

For all the heat Red Sox ownership has taken over the past few years, their investment in Fenway Park has been an unquestioned success and they deserve recognition for their role in preserving MLB’s oldest ballpark. Other franchises may also have strong cases — the Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays have all waited longer since their last game — but when the time comes Boston should be at the top of the list to host an upcoming All-Star Game.