During the summer of 2020, 2.0 (2021), the state of Georgia enacted what has been described as restrictive voter ID laws. These laws are felt to be geared towards suppressing the votes of minorities. As a way of showing how "woke" they are, major league baseball (MLB) told Georgia they were going to relocate the All-Star game scheduled to be played in Atlanta because of these new laws. As woke as they are, it didn't seem to bother them that many small business (some owned by minorities) would be hurt by this knee-jerk reaction. Changing the venue of the All-Star game did not accomplish anything other than to prevent the city and state from cashing in on the potential $100 million this event would have brought to the state.
MLB 1- Atlanta, GA 0
What MLB didn't know was that the Atlanta Braves (they should probably change that name right?) had a pretty good team and would end up in the postseason. This allowed the Braves to play in the Divisional Series, that consisted of home games in Atlanta providing additional revenue to the city. The Braves won the Divisional Series and moved on to play in the National League Championship Series. Again, this series provided the ATL with home games and additional revenue to the city.
MLB 1-Atlanta, GA 1
Guess what? Atlanta won the National League Championship Series and is moving on to the World Series. Atlanta is guaranteed at least 2 home games and depending on how the series plays out, they could end up with a 3rd game being played in Atlanta. It's estimated that just from the Worlds Series, the city could bring in $125 million. We didn't even calculate how much was brought in from the Divisional Series or the National League Championship Series. My guess is as the Braves played better baseball, attendance increased which increased revenue to local businesses. It's called letting the market decide what people want and don't want. If the public is against the new voting laws and THEY want to protest by not going to games, that's one thing. MLB or any large corporation stepping in and protesting for "we the people" is unnecessary.
MLB 1-Atlanta, GA 5
So let's review what happened. MLB pulled the All-Star game from Atlanta because of the perceived restrictive voter ID policies enacted in Georgia. Atlanta potentially lost $100 million because of this move by MLB. In their move, MLB did not take into account that a majority of businesses affected by their decision are minority owned. MLB could not predict that the Brave would have the success they had. By being in 2 post season series and now preparing to play in the World Series, Atlanta is set to bring in close to $125 million, and these dollars do not include money made from the play-off series. Now a city, and state you didn't want to showcase for one game in the summer, is on baseball's biggest stage.
Will MLB embrace Atlanta and the Braves or will they poop on them and this great city like they did last summer?
These knee-jerk "woke" actions taken by large organization, to show how socially aware they are never work. At the end of the day, MLB, Delta, Coca-Cola and HomeDepot all stepped up as woke because they want you, the consumer sheep, to keep spending your money with them. At the end of the day they really don't care about you or your life. They just want you to buy what they're selling.
In this instance, what MLB meant for harm worked out just fine for the Braves, the city of Atlanta, and Georgia.
Go Braves! Beat the Astros.