Georgia taxpayers are on the hook if Atlanta-area stadium misses revenue targets on $392 million in bonds.
Local Atlanta officials have said MLB’s decision to relocate its July 13 All-Star Game will cost the region an estimated $100 million in lost tourism dollars. But the decision to move the event is also a financial swing and a miss for the baseball league. That’s because MLB officials signed partnership contracts with Georgia businesses and venues across Cobb County for All-Star Game services, such as the Omni Hotel at the Battery Atlanta and the Cobb Galleria Centre, according to local tourism and chamber of commerce officials. Some 8,000 local hotel rooms were set aside for league officials and fans through MLB contracts, according to the Cobb County Travel and Tourism Bureau. Such contracts likely had cancellation clauses requiring MLB to pay a fee for not going forward with the game in Atlanta, sports management experts said.
