ATLANTA (NewsNation Now) — Fans at this Saturday’s World Series matchup between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros might get a glimpse of former President Donald Trump.
Trump called Major League Baseball on Wednesday to ask for tickets to Saturday’s game against the Houston Astros, a spokesperson for the Braves said. A spokesperson for MLB didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. In April, Trump called on people to “boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with free and fair elections.”
He blasted the league after it pulled the All-Star Game from Atlanta and moved it to Denver to protest a series of restrictive voting laws passed in Georgia.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he made the decision to move the All-Star events after discussions with individual players and the Players Alliance, an organization of Black players formed after the death of George Floyd last year, and that the league opposed restrictions to the ballot box. Tuesday in Houston, Manfred told reporters that the Braves “earned their right” to be in the series.
“We always have tried to be apolitical,” Manfred said, citing a diverse fan base. “Obviously, there was a notable exception this year. I think our desire is to try to avoid another exception to that general rule.”
Opponents blamed relocating the All-Star Game for hefty economic losses, but many economists question the figures that were thrown around, most commonly $100 million.
J.C. Bradbury, an economist at Kennesaw State University, said his studies have shown that an entire baseball season generates maybe an extra $150 million in spending in Cobb County. Bradbury said he believes people spend money they generally would have spent at other locations in metro Atlanta. It’s a tiny slice of the region’s $422 billion annual economy.
“It’s largely just a redistribution of dollars,” Bradbury said.
Trump is no stranger to the World Series. He was at game 5 in 2019 for the Astros and Washington Nationals contest and was greeted by both boos and cheers from fans.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.