Estimated Cost of MLB's Decision for Cobb County
On April 3, 2021, Major League Baseball announced that it was moving the All-State game out of Atlanta in response to new voter suppression laws in Georgia. Immediately following this announcement, many baseballfans and Atlanta residents bemoaned MLB's decision for a variety or reasons, many pointing to the loss of significant economic impact for the city of Atlanta and Cobb County (where the stadium is located). Citing a Cobb County Travel and Tourism study, a local newspaper, the Marietta Daily Journal purported that the cost to the local economy for moving the All-Star game would be close to $100 million.
However, Baade and Matheson (2010) estimates that the value of the MLB All-Star game is close to zero.As they argue, "Cities would be wise to view with caution the All-Star Game economic impact estimates provided by MLB. Although MLB claims that the All-Star Game is an economic home run, our analyses suggest that MLB's economic impact estimates of the game are a wild pitch" (p. 322).
Using concepts drawn from this module of sport stadium subsidizes, and particularly on this lecture involving sport mega-events, what do you think the estimated cost of MLB's decision will be for Cobb County? Will the loss be close to $100 million? Or will it be closer to zero? Please use concepts and ideas from this course to explain your answer.
Discussion Response 9
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The fan base fundamentally dictates sports popularity and dominance. However, the sports and athletics world also considers other factors such as economic impact, financial issues, real estate or urban development, infrastructure, and investment. In our scenario, Major League Baseball (MLB) has a broad fan base and civic pride in Atlanta. The residents and fans are devastated by a plan set to move the games from the region because of the loss of fans and the area's economic decline. A Cobb County and Tourism study claimed that moving the All-Star game loosens the local economy to almost $100 million. However, moving the All-Star game from Cobb County makes the cost of moving economic value closer to zero.
The economic value of Atlanta and cities in Cobb County would not experience a negative economic impact. According to Baade & Matheson (2001), MLB selects the host cities years before the All-Star games, giving them ample preparation period. Th...