Why was the MLB All-Star Game moved from Atlanta in 2021 to now?

USA Today

6 days ago

The 2025 MLB All-Star Game is happening in Atlanta as planned, but as you might recall from a few years back, the Midseason Classic was supposed to be hosted in 2021 by the Braves' stadium that opened four years before.
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Instead, there was controversy and the festivities were moved to Colorado at the Rockies' Coors Field. So if you're here, you might be wondering: what exactly happened that moved the game from Atlanta that year?
We've got the whole story as we get set for the 2025 MLB Home Run Derby and All-Star Game this week. Let's break it all down:
Why was the MLB All-Star Game moved from Atlanta?
Let's go back to 2021. It was in March of that year that Georgia's state legislature passed a sweeping law known as the Election Integrity Act of 2021. The bill had all kinds of provisions that limited voters even further in the state, particularly for voters of color. with changes made to voting by mail and the ban of giving out food and water to those standing in line waiting to vote.
Momentum began to have MLB move the scheduled All-Star Game out of Atlanta.
What happened next that led to the All-Star Game being moved?
Then-president Joe Biden said he'd "strongly support" the game being moved. Via USA TODAY Sports:
"I think today's professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly. I would strongly support them doing that," Biden, a Democrat, said. "People look to them. They're leaders.
"Look what's happened with the NBA, as well. Look what's happened across the board. The very people who are victimized the most are the people who are the leaders in these various sports, and it's just not right."
With support from all over, from the Players Association to Barack Obama to the Players Alliance -- a group of current and former MLBers who focus on diversity in the sport, among many other things -- commissioner Rob Manfred made the decision to move the game.
What did Rob Manfred say at the time the MLB All-Star Game was moved out of Atlanta?
Per his statement
"Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views. I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year's All-Star Game and MLB Draft.
"Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box. In 2020, MLB became the first professional sports league to join the non-partisan Civic Alliance to help build a future in which everyone participates in shaping the United States. We proudly used our platform to encourage baseball fans and communities throughout our country to perform their civic duty and actively participate in the voting process. Fair access to voting continues to have our game's unwavering support."
Why did MLB then award the 2025 MLB All-Star Game back to Atlanta?
There's no good answer to that. It could be that the political climate changed, it could be MLB giving in after its original decision, it could be all of the above From 11Alive:
'I made the decision in 2021 to move the event, and I understand, believe me, that people had then and probably still have different views as to the merits of that decision,' Manfred said in November 2023. ...
Some Democrats were conciliatory after the announcement that the All-Star Game would return in 2025 — then-state Rep. Teri Anulewicz, whose district included the area around Truist Park, told 11Alive it was "wonderful that what (MLB) is doing is really correcting something that happened during a very heated time."