Once, there was a time when All-Star games for professional sports were not much more than the game. The spectacle that surrounds the games now was not to be found 20 years ago or more. Now, the game is important, sure, but the events around the game get people in the seats, too.
This week, Major League Baseball will hold its annual All-Star game in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, July 15. It will be hot and sweaty, and it will also be loud. And the city of Atlanta is not holding back in showing how proud it is of its musical tradition.
Before the game, Atlanta hip-hop icons Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri will introduce the players with a medley of Atlanta-themed songs. The duo will also be joined by the Clark Atlanta University Mighty Marching Panthers and Essence Dance Line when they perform "Welcome to Atlanta."
Music will be all around at the 2025 MLB All-Star game
Ludacris has had 18 of his songs, where he was either the lead or featured artist, hit the Billboard top 10. Dupri founded So So Def Records and has had two songs reach the top 10.
Country artist Kane Brown is expected to follow with a rendition of Ray Charles' iconic "Georgia on My Mind." In other words, if you harbor a strange dislike for the state of Georgia, you might not want to start watching the MLB All-Star game until right when the first pitch is thrown.
Performing the American national anthem will be the Zac Brown Band, an Atlanta-based rock-country group that you probably know well. The band has released seven studio albums, three of which have gone number one on the Billboard 200.
The Zac brown Band is no stranger to delivering the national anthem at sporting events, having done so at the 2013 college football national championship game, the 2013 NFC Championship game, and the 2014 NHL Winter Classic. The odd part is that those three happened more than a decade ago and within two years of one another.
Lauren Spencer Smith will likely feel like an intruder as the Canadian will perform her country's national anthem before the game as well. You might know her from TikTok.
The game is scheduled for 7 pm ET on July 15 and will be shown on FOX, FOX Deportes (Spanish), ESPN Radio (national), Rogers Sportsnet and TDA Sports in Canada, with streaming options at MLB.com.