Chuck Grassley Claims Losing All-Star Game Cost 100 Million Jobs. (Georgia Only Has 10 Million People.)

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) claimed that MLB moving the All-Star Game cost Georgia 100 million jobs, but Georgia only has 10 million people.

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Grassley said, “Major League Baseball moved the All-Star Game from Atlanta. A move that’s likely to cost Atlanta 100 million jobs, and that’s likely to affect the income of families.”

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The city of Atlanta has a population of over 488,000. The Atlanta metro area has a population of over 6 million, and the state of Georgia has a population of 10.6 million, so there is no way that the city of Atlanta is losing 100 million jobs due to the All-Star Game leaving town.

The Republican culture of making things is an epidemic on the right. It appears that Grassley was running with the Republican talking point that losing the game would cost Georgia $100 million in economic activity, but that number is inaccurate and likely untrue.

MLB All-Star games have been estimated to be worth $60-$89 million to host city and state economies over the last five years. There is no way that Atlanta would lose more than the other hosts gained over the last half-decade.

Georgia isn’t going to lose 100 million jobs or $100 million, and Sen. Grassley looks like a fool for what either a big lie or a lie that he got wrong.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association