Small Business Group Suing MLB Claims To Work With Denver Businesses
DENVER (CBS4) - Despite saying it has "partners" in Colorado, few organizations agree with the Job Creators Network lawsuit against Major League Baseball over the All-Star Game. On Tuesday, the organization that says it advocates for small businesses sued MLB to move the game back to Atlanta or pay $100 million to businesses that are damaged by the game being moved to Denver.
JCN says on its website it has at least nine "partner" organizations in Colorado including several chambers of commerce and industry groups. Several, such as the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, told CBS4 they have no relationship with JCN.
"They were doing education around workforce development that we always support. And so, I believe we told them verbally we would support them in those efforts. It was not a financial partnership," said Denise Mickelsen with the Colorado Restaurant Association, adding the relationship only occurred in 2016 and hadn't continued.
The CRA said it didn't support the group or the lawsuit. Instead, it's helping restaurants meet deadlines and increase space to hold bigger events with the increase in crowds expected for the festivities around the All-Star Game. In turn bringing back some of the $3 billion it says Colorado restaurants lost because of the pandemic.
"We hope this is a big commercial for Denver and for our amazing dining scene and our sports teams," Mickelsen said about the All-Star Game coming in July. "It's all good, we're very happy it's going to be here."
Businesses around Coors Field are already feeling the bump in business because of baseball's growing return to LoDo.
"We started seeing quite a few new reservations coming in immediately after the announcement. We continue to see a lot of high demand over those days," said Mustafa Menekse with The Maven Hotel. "We're trying to be prepared for this event and present what our city has to offer. We're bringing a lot of our people back and hiring and so everything is moving in a positive direction."
City officials hope and believe the All-Star game will bring a $100 million boost to Denver.
Other officials are hoping the Mid-Summer Classic will act as a multi-day advertisement to the rest of the country showing Denver is back open.
"Sports fan traveling from all over the country is huge for us, they stay and dine. It's a huge gift for us so we're really grateful to have this special event in Denver," Meneske said.