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.
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.
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.
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.