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MLB could move ASG from Atlanta due to new voting laws?
A general view of the field on the first day of workouts for the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park.  Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

MLB could move All-Star Game from Atlanta due to new voting laws?

The 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game is set to be held in Atlanta on July 13. Per Michael Silverman of the Boston Globe (h/t ESPN), however, MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark said on Friday the union could look to relocate the Midsummer Classic after Georgia approved of changing voting laws in the state. 

"Players are very much aware," Clark said of new Georgia restrictions that opponents say disproportionately target the state's minority voters. "As it relates to the All-Star Game, we have not had a conversation with the league on that issue. If there is an opportunity to, we would look forward to having that conversation." 

The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was famously relocated from Charlotte to New Orleans after North Carolina passed a controversial measure that was viewed as anti-LGBTQ+. 

"While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2," the NBA said in a statement shared by ABC News in July 2016. 

History suggests this year's MLB All-Star Game will be moved if players vocally threaten to boycott the exhibition and the MLBPA publicly backs them throughout the spring and early summer months.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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