Sports

MLB All-Star Game returning to Atlanta for 1st time since 2000

ATLANTA — It's official! The 2021 MLB All-Star Game will be played at SunTrust Park in Atlanta!

Channel 2 Action News was there Wednesday afternoon as the Braves made the official announcement.

It’ll be the third time in metro Atlanta for baseball’s Midsummer Classic, each in a different stadium.

The All-Star game will continue an extraordinary run of sports mega-events drawn to metro Atlanta by two new stadiums that opened in 2017 at a combined cost of more than $2 billion.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium hosted college football’s national championship game in January 2018 and the Super Bowl in February 2019, and will host college basketball’s Final Four in April 2020.

It also hosted the MLS All-Star game in August 2018.

The Braves have long lobbied MLB for an All-Star game at SunTrust Park.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said last year that the Braves' ballpark and adjacent mixed-use development have "literally revolutionized the process of stadium development."

PREVIOUS ALL-STAR GAMES IN ATLANTA

Hank Aaron played right field for the National League and went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer when Atlanta Stadium, later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, hosted the MLB All-Star game in 1972.

Chipper Jones played third base and went 3-for-3 with a home run when Turner Field hosted the All-Star game in 2000.

Aaron, Jones and a handful of other former Braves all-stars were on hand for Wednesday's big announcement.