The Cobb County Travel and Tourism Bureau said that it estimates it will miss out on $100 million in revenue after Major League Baseball (MLB) was brow-beaten by political activists into moving its 2021 All-Star game from Atlanta.
“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 bureau said. “This would have been a big boost to Cobb businesses and help with recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The MLB moved the All-Star game after Georgia passed SB 202, a voter integrity law that requires those who wish to vote by mail to present photo identification along with their absentee ballot applications.
The tourism bureau said that the hotel industry, struggling after a year of lockdowns and other travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, will miss out on revenue from more than 8,000 rooms that were already booked for the event.
Jobs Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz joined “Fox & Friends” to discuss the damage that moving the All-Star game will do to Georgia’s economy.
“[Georgia] is barely making it out of this pandemic,” he said. “And now they’re faced, under the Biden administration, with potentially higher taxes, a higher minimum wage, more red tape and regulations, and now this.”
He also blasted left-wing activists for their role spreading an “outright lie” about the new law.
“These small business owners, especially in Cobb – I mean, a lot of these are minority owned businesses – who were looking forward and desperately needed this kind of revenue,” he said. “And all because, quite frankly, there was a misinterpretation or a misunderstanding or quite frankly just an outright lie of the law that was passed here in Georgia on voting rights.”
The MLB Player’s Alliance perpetuated the myth the the new law is somehow racist in a recent statement:
“We want to make our voice heard loud and clear in our opposition of the recent Georgia legislation that not only disproportionately disenfranchises the Black community, but also paves the way for other states to pass similarly harmful laws based largely on widespread falsehoods and disinformation.
While we will support those in need in whichever city the game is ultimately relocated to, we will also uphold our commitment to those Georgians we’ve already planned to serve. We will use our voice, our platform, and our partnerships now more than ever to create real, tangible change for the Black community to stand up for every American’s right to vote.
We will not be silenced. We won’t back down in the fight for racial equity. We will never stop breaking barriers to the ballot box.”
Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is not budging on the new law. He blasted the MLB for its decision to move the annual All-Star event.
“Georgians and all Americans should know what this decision means. It means cancel culture and partisan activists are coming for your business,” he said.
“They are coming for your game or event in your hometown, and they are coming to cancel everything from sports to how you make a living. They will stop at nothing to silence all of us.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
