The game is the showcase event in a number of days worth of activities in Arlington, Texas.
The Major League Baseball All Star Game started off as a gimmick and remains a gimmick 91 years after the first game was played in Chicago. Neither American nor National League owners ever thought about pitting their stars against one another in the previous 30 years that the American League claimed major league status. The All Star Game concept came from a meeting between Chicago Mayor Edward J. Kelly and the Chicago Tribune newspaper editorial staff as Kelly was looking for a major sports event to be part of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. Arch Ward, the sports editor, proposed the idea of an all-star game which was supposed to be a one-time deal. The baseball owners agreed. Baseball always had a close relationship with newspapers as newspapers gave the sport free publicity. Fans, through newspapers, were able to vote for the starters. The net revenue from the game went to former players who needed money.
The first almost All-Star Game took place in Cleveland in 1911 and did not even feature the National League. A combined American League team played the Cleveland Naps in a fundraiser. At one time, the Baseball All Star Game was a big deal. In 1980, the All Star Game was watched on TV by an estimated 36 million people. Last year, only around 6,000,000 watched the game on TV. The Baseball All Star Game is nothing more than an exhibition game that resembles a beer league game these days. No one is going to risk injury for the pride of the American or National League. MLB rewards a market that builds a new stadium or renovates an old ballpark with the event claiming it is an economic driver for the market. It is not. Arlington, Texas built a new stadium for the host team, the Texas Rangers franchise owners. That is why Arlington is hosting the event.
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