‘Serve Your Customers, Not Woke Politicians’: Conservative Group Targets MLB In Advertising Campaign

If Major League Baseball thought their move to bow to the Left has been forgotten, they were sorely mistaken. 

Earlier this year, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made the decision to relocate the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta, Georgia in response to Georgia’s Election Integrity Bill.  

“Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with the clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players alliance, among others, to listen to their views,” MLB commissioner Manfred said in a statement. “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 new law is intended to fix the voting process in a state that was mired in controversy during the 2020 Presidential race. It’s meant to make elections safer and more transparent by requiring absentee voters to provide identification when requesting and returning a ballot. The Left, however, saw the bill as another opportunity to divide us by focusing entirely on the issue of race. President Biden called the bill “Jim Crow on steroids.” 

Conservatives have been pushing back since Manfred made the decision to move the game to Denver, Colorado, and as the game approaches, conservatives are ramping up their efforts. 

A conservative group is running a seven-figure advertising campaign ahead of next week’s game — aimed at Major League Baseball and Ticketmaster — accusing them of “woke capitalism.”

The ad cites declining viewership for MLB— “World Series TV ratings 32% down on previous low” — and rising ticket prices — “prices up 53%” — as Manfred’s reason for making baseball political. 

According to Axios, the ads will be run for cable and local TV in the cities where MLB and Ticketmaster are headquartered, as well as in Atlanta. 

Conservatives have been up in arms about baseball making their sport political since the league made the decision to move the game.

In May, Job Creators Network, the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York against Major League Baseball, as well as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, the Major League Baseball Players Association, and Executive Director Tony Clark, after Major League Baseball moved the All-Star game from Atlanta.

The lawsuit sought the return of the All-Star Game to Georgia, $100 million in damages to local businesses, and $1 billion in punitive damages.

“MLB robbed the small businesses of Atlanta — many of them minority-owned — of $100 million, we want the game back where it belongs,” Alfredo Ortiz, president, and CEO of the Job Creators Network said in a statement. “This was a knee-jerk, hypocritical and illegal reaction to misinformation about Georgia’s new voting law which includes Voter-ID. Major League Baseball itself requests ID at will-call ticket windows at Yankee Stadium in New York, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and at ballparks all across the country.” 

The lawsuit was rejected, as U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni said the lawsuit “failed to provide proof that its members have suffered any injuries by the decision to move the game.” 

MLB’s All-Star is scheduled to be played at Coors Field in Denver on Tuesday, July 13.

Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].

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