Atlanta set to host 2025 MLB All-Star Game

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Thursday afternoon that the Atlanta Braves will host the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, awarding the Midsummer Classic to Truist Park for the first time just two years after it was stripped of the event in very public and controversial fashion.

Atlanta was initially set to host the All-Star Game (and MLB draft) back in 2021, an ideal showcase for their sparkling new ballpark. But Manfred made the decision to move the game over concerns about a then-new Georgia law that many feared would disproportionately affect voting access for people of color in the state — an act that drew praise from many players, not to mention prominent Democrats like Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

“Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views,” Manfred said at the time. “I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft.”

The 2021 game eventually wound up at Coors Field in Colorado. Four years later, and despite legal challenges from groups like the ACLU, the Georgia law remains on the books. Manfred, however, has changed his tune.

“I made the decision in 2021 to move the event,” Manfred said on Thursday. And I understand that — believe me — people had then and probably still have different views as to the merits of that decision.”

Next year’s All-Star Game will be held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, with the 2026 event coming to Philadelphia for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence.