Georgia’s controversial, recently passed voting rights law is already impacting sports: MLB is moving the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta. 

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred released a statement on Friday, saying that after consulting with teams, former and current players, the Players Association, and the Players Alliance — a group of Black former and current players — he determined that “the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft.”

Taking an unusually forward political stance, Manfred wrote that “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”

Georgia’s new voting rights law, signed by Governor Brian Kemp on March 25, introduces more stringent ID requirements for absentee voting, severely restricts the use of ballot dropboxes, and makes it illegal for volunteers to bring food and water to voters waiting in line. 

Opponents say that the law is meant as a voter suppression tactic, motivated not by the nearly non-existent evidence of voter fraud, but by a desire of the Republican legislature to win upcoming elections, namely the Governor and Senate races in 2022.

“We are witnessing right now a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights unlike anything we’ve seen since the Jim Crow era,” said Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler.

Expressing disappointment over the decision, the Atlanta Braves released a statement saying that “the Braves organization will continue to express the importance of equal voting opportunities and we had hoped our city could use this event as a platform to enhance the discussion.” 

The move is a costly one for Atlanta: the MLB All-Star Game regularly brings in $60 million to $89 million to its host city.

The Golden State Warriors changed the game with their three-point shooting prowess, and now they’re pioneers in a different way. They may be the first NBA team to sell a stake to a private equity firm.

Arctos Sports Partners is buying 5% of the Warriors at a roughly $5.5 billion valuation. Recent media estimates valued the team as second in the NBA to the Knicks at $4.7 and $5.2 billion.

The Warriors are believed to be the first NBA team to sell to a private equity firm, but they won’t be the last.

• CVC Partners is in talks to buy part of the San Antonio Spurs, at around a $1.3 billion valuation. 
• Last July, the NBA granted rights to Dyal Capital Partners to create a fund to buy minority stakes in teams.

In January, the NBA opened the door to private equity firms, allowing them to have up to 20% of any one team and invest in up to five teams. Teams can be up to 30% owned by private equity firms. 

Though teams have historically been owned by individuals and small groups, the league changed its stance in part as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic after league revenues dropped 10% in the 2019-2020 season.

The National Football League selects…Genius Sports.

After a months-long bidding process and finalizing more than $100 billion in media deals, the NFL chose Genius Sports as its lone gatekeeper of the league’s official data and will include an equity stake, knocking out its current deal with Sportradar.

If the contract with Genius extends for more than four years, it could be valued at $1 billion, per CNBC.

The London-based firm will now broaden its reach in the States. It has the opportunity to monetize from the NFL by distributing play-by-play stats and sports-betting data feeds to both domestic and international media companies and firms.

While exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, a few numbers indicate how the $1 billion might be reached.

• Sportradar won the NHL’s gambling rights in August. For the 10-year contract, numbers total $25 million per year.
• Last month, CNBC reported the NFL sought $100 million per year for its data rights. 
• A source told CNBC that the contract is a four-year cash deal and “equity agreement with options.” The stake is likely less than 5%, per Sportico.

Genius will provide the league with its integrity services to monitor betting, as well. NFL teams were recently given permission to sign sportsbook partnerships — a first for the league.

A 2019 study revealed that 41% of first-time bettors put money on the NFL. A 2018 report by The American Gaming Association said that with a robust legal U.S. market, the NFL’s annual revenue could increase by $2.3 billion each year.

Genius went public via a SPAC last October and is valued at $1.5 billion.