Georgia County Predicts $100 Million Revenue Loss After MLB Pulls All-Star Game

Atlanta Braves fans watch game 3 of the National League Division Series between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta, Ga., on Oct. 8, 2020. Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

A Georgia county predicted that it would lose $100 million in revenue after Major League Baseball (MLB) pulled its All-Star Game over a voting law that was signed into law by the governor last month.

“This event would have directly impacted our county and the state, as visitors spend their dollars on local accommodations, transportation, entertainment and recreation, food and retail throughout the county,” the Cobb County Travel and Tourism said, according to WSB-TV. “This would have been a big boost to Cobb businesses and help with recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The bureau said that about 8,000 hotel rooms were booked for the game. Now, those rooms won’t be needed as the game is slated to move outside of Cobb County, a suburb of Atlanta that President Joe Biden won by about 14 points over former President Donald Trump in November 2020.

“We are proud of the work that many community partners have dedicated to planning the All-Star Game activities,” the Cobb County Travel and Tourism said. “We will continue, as we always do, to show who we are in Cobb through our outreach, customer service and hard work.”

MLB officials said the game was moved to protest against the voter integrity law. A day before the league boycotted Georgia, Chinese state media reported that the MLB will continue to be aired on a streaming platform operated by Chinese tech giant Tencent, which has significant ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Tencent is of the Chinese companies that had temporarily dropped NBA games as a form of censorship after former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey spoke out in support of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Some noted that the MLB, like the NBA, has engaged in hypocritical behavior by working with CCP-affiliated companies in the midst of the regime’s human rights violations, including the genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang Province.

Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed a package of election reforms into law last month that expanded voting hours and access to early voting. The new law also required absentee voters to provide a copy of their ID alongside their ballot, something the state had already required for in-person voters.

The reforms have become the target of left-wing criticism and pressure campaigns. A number of celebrities said they won’t work in Georgia following the passage of the law.

Kemp, meanwhile, said last week that the boycotts and pressure campaign is part of the leftist “cancel culture” and mocked the MLB. “What are they gonna do if the [Atlanta] Braves get in the playoffs?” he asked. The Braves play in Cobb County. “Are they gonna move the damn playoff games?”