Major League Baseball plans to move its All-Star Game to Denver after the league announced on Friday that it would withdraw the game from Atlanta in protest against the state’s new restrictive voting laws.
The league is scheduled to announce Tuesday that the game, which is scheduled for July 13, will take place at Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, USA Today announced Monday evening, a person aware of the decision.
The city of Denver began lobbying to host the game after the MLB announced they would pull the league out of Atlanta, according to Yahoo Finance.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock told the outlet that his city was “ready to host the game,” citing the city’s “progressive voting system.”
“We are proud to welcome it and talk about the progressive voting system in Denver, which aims to ensure that no one, no one is curtailed from their voting rights,” Hancock told Yahoo Finance.
“We will show that, but more importantly, we can show Major League Baseball that we are prepared and ready to host [the All-Star Game] in July, if they still choose us, ”he added.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced in a statement Friday the decision to move the All-Star Game out of Atlanta, writing, “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports the right to vote for all Americans and opposes restrictions on the ballot box.”
Manfred said the decision was made after discussions with teams and players found that moving the game out of the Peach State was “the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport.”
Last month, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
Brian Kemp Juan Williams: Business leaders must bring down Georgia’s unjust law Some GOP lawmakers in Georgia want Coca-Cola products removed from offices Right-wing culture politics, professional sports, and state economies: we’ve seen this before MORE (R) signed a sweeping election law that tightened up voting rules in the state, including limiting the use of ballots and setting photo ID requirements for absentee voting.
The legislation also makes it a crime for people to hand out water or food to individuals standing in line, claiming that such amenities are a form of gift that should be banned.