NEW YORK \u2014\u00a0Major League Baseball is building its public arguments for a salary cap around parity, and in particular, a perception by fans that small-market teams cannot compete. That effort continued on Wednesday, when during his first press conference since the league and players\u2019 union exchanged initial proposals for a new labor deal, commissioner Rob Manfred took aim at the sport\u2019s luxury-tax system, designed to deter large-market spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have tried mightily over several rounds of bargaining to use a competitive balance tax to address competitive concerns, and sometimes, you got to admit you failed,\u201d Manfred said at MLB\u2019s headquarters, where the league was holding owners\u2019 meetings.<\/p>\n
But whether fan perception is reality<\/a> is hotly contested. Manfred has spoken well of baseball\u2019s parity in the past. And the union\u2019s opposition to a salary cap is so well known that Manfred acknowledged he worries MLB could wind up repeating the ugly conflict that stemmed from the league\u2019s last serious push for one \u2014 a 232-day strike from 1994-95<\/a> that included a canceled World Series.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course I do. Of course I do,\u201d said Manfred, who at the time worked with MLB as outside counsel. \u201cWe want to make an agreement. We made a proposal on one set of topics at the outset of negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cI went and said myself: Look, we\u2019re open to whatever ideas people have. But we need a realistic framework that addresses the fans\u2019 concerns about competitive balance, and you just can\u2019t ignore that financial penalties have not gotten it done for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Manfred declined to answer, however, whether the league\u2019s desire for a cap this time around would be worth an extended lockout. The current labor deal expires in December, and a new one would probably need to be in place by mid-March to avoid the cancellation of at least some games during the 2027 season.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to speculate about work stoppages,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The MLB Players Association argues that baseball\u2019s parity is just as strong as other sports\u2019, if not better. The union also blames the clubs themselves for the sport\u2019s payroll disparity, where in the extreme, one team (the Los Angeles Dodgers, $420 million, per Cot\u2019s Contracts<\/a>) has about five times the payroll as another (the Miami Marlins, $83.6 million). When some teams choose to spend less on players, they exacerbate the gap<\/a>, interim union head Bruce Meyer said Monday.<\/p>\n Over time, Manfred has offered what appear to be contradictory statements on the state of parity. For example, in October 2024 he told The Athletic<\/a> that baseball has had a \u201cdarn good\u201d record in that area.<\/p>\n He was asked on Wednesday about that comment.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the context, particularly of the postseason, where you\u2019re trying to generate interest and maximize viewership, I think it\u2019s important to emphasize competitiveness,\u201d Manfred said. \u201cAnd there are aspects of competitiveness: we haven\u2019t had repeat winners (recently) until the Dodgers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we think about it from a labor perspective, we\u2019re focused on an entirely different part of the calendar. And that\u2019s the offseason, when you\u2019re trying to sell season tickets, and the perception among our fans that\u2019s really strong that we have a lack of competitiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n Fan perceptions do not always motivate major change \u2014\u00a0not unless they\u2019re having major impacts. Considering MLB\u2019s ratings and ticket sales figures have generally improved in recent years, has MLB identified quantifiable ways that this perception is harming them?<\/p>\n \u201cWe actually have spent a lot of time on this topic, and teams that go through periods, particularly longer periods, of non-competitiveness, not only have lower revenues, but they are slower to recover once they become competitive,\u201d Manfred said Wednesday.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t offer specific figures.<\/p>\n