Colorado Rockies’ stadium Coors Field will host July’s All-Star Game, Major League Baseball (MLB) said on Tuesday, after the annual event was relocated from Atlanta in protest over Georgia’s new voting restrictions.
MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred on Friday ordered the sport to relocate its 2021 All-Star Game after Georgia instituted the new voting rules, which Republican politicians have endorsed but critics have said aim to suppress voting among Black people and other racial minorities who tend to vote Democratic.
“Major League Baseball is grateful to the Rockies, the City of Denver and the State of Colorado for their support of this summer’s All-Star Game,” Manfred said in a written statement.
“We appreciate their flexibility and enthusiasm to deliver a first-class event for our game and the region.”
MLB said the venue was chosen in part because the team was already in the process of bidding for a future All-Star Game and had previously provided “a detailed plan for hotel, event space and security that took months to assemble.”
Manfred’s announcement last week that the annual All-Star Game would not take place in Georgia was met with fierce criticism from Republican lawmakers in the United States, including Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp, who accused MLB of having “caved to fear, political opportunism, and liberal lies.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Toby Davis)