MLB All-Star Game to bring economic boom to Cobb County, The Battery

MLB All-Star Game brings bump in business

Officials are expecting thousands to descend on Truist Park and Atlanta for the MLB All-Star festivities, and that will likely bring in millions of dollars.

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - Officials are expecting thousands of baseball fans to descend on Truist Park and the city of Atlanta for the MLB All-Star Game festivities.

The major sports event will likely bring in millions of dollars for the metro Atlanta area.

MORE: 2025 MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta | Everything you need to know

What we know:

The Battery in Cobb County will be buzzing all weekend as fans get ready to cheer on their favorite players during the 95th annual MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday.

This is the first year Truist Park is hosting the game and the first time Atlanta has hosted the event in decades.

Activities surrounding the game are getting into high gear on Friday. Fans can enjoy a block party at the Battery leading up to the HBCU Swingman Classic later in the evening. 

The MLB All-Star Game is expected to bring millions of dollars to metro Atlanta. (Alex Forbes/FOX 5)

PHOTOS: MLB All-Star Game will feature tastes of Atlanta at Truist Park

Economist and Emory finance professor Tom Smith said it will be a great weekend for Cobb County and businesses around the ballpark.

 "Where that will translate will be some Uber drivers will have a great weekend, and some restaurants in the Battery and around town will have some amazing receipts," Smith said.

The Braves organization estimated the event could draw in $50 million or more.

The backstory:

Atlanta had been awarded the 2021 All-Star Game in May 2019, but MLB moved it in April 2021, just three months before the game was played.

Critics complained in 2021 that the voting rights changes in Georgia were too restrictive. Commissioner Rob Manfred made the decision to move the All-Star events and the amateur draft from Atlanta after discussions with individual players and the Players Alliance, an organization of Black players formed after the death of George Floyd in 2020.

While there was no change to that law, the league decided to bring the game back to Atlanta in 2025.

MORE: MLB All-Star Week will offer ultimate fan experience before big game

This will be the third time Atlanta has hosted the All-Star Game — at three different ballparks.

The 1972 Midsummer Classic was held at Atlanta-Fulton Country Stadium, the home of the Braves after the team moved from Milwaukee in 1966.

After Atlanta was awarded the 1996 Summer Olympics, a new stadium was built just south of the original cookie-cutter facility. It was converted into a baseball park known as Turner Field and became the new home of the Braves, welcoming a second All-Star Game in 2000.