ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 08: Atlanta Braves fans watch Game Three of the National League Division Series between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on October 8, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
The Atlanta Braves are not happy about MLB’s decision to move the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta.
Major League Baseball made the monumental decision Friday to move the 2021 MLB All-Star Game and Draft out of Atlanta this summer. This came in response to Georgia passing new voting laws that are widely seen as restrictive, particularly to minority groups.
This is obviously a huge loss for the Atlanta Braves and for baseball fans in the city. However, this is a decision much bigger than baseball.
Not everyone in Georgia agrees with the new restrictive laws, but the Braves placed the blame elsewhere, releasing a statement expressing their frustration with the league’s decision.
Braves extremely frustrated with MLB’s All-Star Game decision
MLB is taking action to show that controversial political actions do have consequences. The Braves are obviously going to be frustrated as an organization, but ownership may want to take that up with the state legislature.
It is good that the statement mentioned how the organization wants to focus on the importance of equal voting opportunities. The key problem here is that the state where the team plays just passed restrictive voting laws. So all the education doesn’t matter if the laws don’t change and the Braves’ words here aren’t followed up by action.
The statement also says how there are victims in this scenario. While true, this is not MLB’s fault. That once again goes up to those in power who passed the laws that created this problem in the first place, and the whole point of this type of economic boycott is to force Georgia businesses and fans to mobilize against these laws.
MLB is now going to need a new site for the 2021 All-Star Game and MLB Draft. Those high up in the Braves organization may want to make a call or pay a visit to certain elected officials in the state to ask why they are now losing a ton of money in the state of Georgia over these controversial new laws.