Major League Baseball players are willing to talk about moving the All-Star Game out of Atlanta because of Georgia’s new election law, according to the chief of the players’ union.
Tony Clark, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, said on Friday that the “players are very much aware” of the sweeping voting restrictions bill that was signed into law by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, according to the Boston Globe.
BRIAN KEMP SIGNS SWEEPING ELECTIONS BILL INTO LAW
“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,” Clark added, noting that this summer’s All-Star Game is set to be hosted by the Atlanta Braves.
The bill, which passed through a Republican-controlled legislature and was signed by Kemp on Thursday, changes voter ID laws in the state, limits ballot boxes, reduces the time between a general election and a runoff contest, and prevents members of the public from distributing anything to voters waiting in line, among other changes.
Another organization, the National Black Justice Coalition, called on the PGA Tour to pull the Masters Tournament from the Augusta National Golf Course. They also called on golfers to refuse to play until the restrictions are reversed.
“The PGA Tour and Masters Tournament have both made commitments to help diversify golf and address racial inequities in this country, and we expect them to not only speak out against Georgia’s new racist voter suppression law, but to also take action,” David Johns, the executive director of the coalition, said in a statement.
“To that end, the National Black Justice Coalition is calling on the PGA Tour and Masters Tournament to pull the upcoming championship event from the Augusta National Golf Course. Professional golfers should refuse to play in Georgia until the racist voter suppression law is repealed,” he added. “Professional golf should not reward Georgia’s attacks on democracy and voting rights with the millions of dollars in revenue that the tournament generates and the prestige it brings to the State.”
If action is taken, it would not be the first time a U.S. sports league moved an all-star game in response to a controversial law.
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In 2016, the NBA moved its all-star game out of Charlotte, North Carolina, in response to the “bathroom bill” that was signed into law in March of that year. The law, which has since been repealed and replaced, required transgender people to use the public bathroom that matched the person’s biological sex instead of one’s gender identity.
The NCAA also moved seven championship events out of state during the 2016-2017 academic year. The league even threatened to withhold events from the state through 2022.
