TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 20: The MLB logo is installed prior to the game between Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics at Tokyo Dome on March 20, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.
U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni has denied a preliminary injunction, that if granted, would have relocated the 2021 MLB All-Star Game back to Atlanta, Georgia. Caproni has explained that the injunction put forth by the Job Creators Network “lacks standing” and fails "to demonstrate that it is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.”
The crux of the JCN's request ties back to Major League Baseball's decision to move the 2021 MLB All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver after Georgia lawmakers passed a restrictive voting bill that drew criticism from Stacey Abrams, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. In response, the Job Creators Network filed a lawsuit claiming that the move cost small businesses in area $100 million in damages. The JCN also sought $1 billion in punitive damages and requested the MLB All-Star Game be moved back to Atlanta.
“To say that the legal underpinnings of this lawsuit are weak and muddled is an understatement,” Caproni said.
“Plaintiff alleges that (MLB and the players’ union) were members of a conspiracy to violate JCN members’ constitutional rights … but I am still at a loss to understand how.”
Caproni also noted that there is no evidence to support the idea that small business owners are upset with the idea that 2021 MLB All-Star Game was moved out of Atlanta, Georgia.
“MLB voted with its feet when politicians in Georgia made a policy decision with which (MLB) strongly disagreed. For all this court knows, many of the small business owners in the Atlanta area agree with MLB that the policy decisions reflected in the new Georgia election law are poor policy choices," Caproni continued.
"But whether small business owners as a group agree or disagree, are deeply divided or are agnostic on that issue, it is hard to see how MLB’s decision had an impact on the equal protection rights of small business owners as a group.”
As it stands now, the JCN can continue to pursue financial damages, but the all-star game location is set in stone. The 2021 MLB All-Star Game is set for July 13 in Denver, Colorado.
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