MLB All Star Game boycott 'crushing' for Atlanta small businesses
“We’re trying to build back from a pandemic that happened last year, and something like this is not good for business,” said Rodney.
Georgia businesses are speaking out against Major League Baseball's (MLB) decision to punish the state's new voting law by moving the All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver, saying the league’s decision to move the All-Star Game to Colorado was "crushing."
Tudy Rodney of Rodney’s Jamaican Soul Food in Atlanta told FOX 5 Atlanta's "Good Day Atlanta" on Monday that the move by the MLB was "crushing." Rodney’s restaurant is near the Braves' ballpark.
"We're trying to build back from a pandemic that happened last year, and something like this is not good for business," said Rodney. "Rodney’s will suffer."
PSAKI ON MOVING MLB ALL-STAR GAME TO COLORADO: GEORGIA LEGISLATION WAS ‘BUILT ON A LIE’
Job Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz told "Fox and Friends" on Monday that the MLB’s move "absolutely" leaves a pit in his stomach.
"They're barely making it out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now they’re fac[ing] under the Biden administration potentially higher taxes, higher minimum wage, more red tape and regulations, and now this,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz said that the estimated cost on the state of pulling the All-Star Game from Atlanta was "upwards of $100 million."
"A lot of these were minority-owned businesses that were really looking forward [to] and desperately needed this kind of revenue in stream,” said Ortiz. "And all because, quite frankly, there was a misinterpretation or misunderstanding or, quite frankly, just an outright lie of the law that was passed here in Georgia on voting rights."
"And, the bottom line is that, that law — it just makes it easy to vote and hard to cheat," added Ortiz.
Professional sporting events, especially special events like the MLB All-Star Game, can be a major revenue source for host cities.
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In 2019, Cleveland raked in $65 million from the event. Washington, DC made $68 million while hosting the 2018 All-Star Game.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed on Tuesday that the voting law at the center of the controversy was “built on a lie” and said that there was no “widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.”