Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of the Job Creators Network (JCN), recently told the Fox News Channel, "We filed the lawsuit in federal court in New York … basically making the demand that they bring the All-Star Game back to Atlanta, where it rightfully belongs."
Or as an alternative, the lawsuit suggests MLB "set up a relief fund of $100 million, which is the estimated damages to our local businesses across Georgia," Ortiz added.
Major League Baseball decided to move the All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver in response to Georgia's new election law that critics say amounts to Jim Crow 2.0 or Jim Crow in a suit and tie. Governor Brian Kemp (R-Georgia) says the law makes it easier to vote and harder to cheat.
JCN's lawsuit names Major League Baseball, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball Players Association, and Executive Director Tony Clark.
"There are nine times as many black-owned small businesses in Atlanta than there are in Denver, so the very group that supposedly [Clark] and others wanted to try to protect, he's actually hurting them, and that's why we took action," Ortiz explained.
In a press release on its website, JCN says the harm done to the communities of Atlanta, Cobb County, and the state of Georgia would be devastating at the worst possible time, as they are still recovering from COVID-19:
- More than 8,000 hotel reservations were canceled.
- Revenues from ticket sales, concessions, and events at Truist Park – including the Futures Game and Home Run Derby Contest – by the more than 41,000 fans expected, were lost.
- According to Cobb County Chief Financial Officer William Volckmann, the county would receive a "robust return" on its roughly $2 million investment to host the events. Previous MLB All-Star events have generated between $37 million and $190 million for their host communities.
- Atlanta is 51% African-American; Denver is 9% African-American. U.S. Census data indicates there are roughly 7.5 times more African-American-owned businesses in Georgia than Colorado.
In the press release, Ortiz calls moving the game "hypocritical" and "illegal" and vows that the JCN "won't stand for it."
