{"id":744634,"date":"2026-06-18T14:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/744634\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T14:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:31:13","slug":"both-mlb-players-and-fans-bracing-for-a-lockout-before-the-2027-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/744634\/","title":{"rendered":"Both MLB players and fans bracing for a lockout before the 2027 season"},"content":{"rendered":"

In separate polls of 101 anonymous MLB players and almost 8,500 fans conducted by The Athletic, an overwhelming majority of both groups indicated they are bracing for a lockout before the 2027 season.<\/p>\n

In the first segment released from The Athletic\u2019s annual MLB player poll, which was conducted across 23 teams from February to May, 80 respondents said they believed there would be a lockout this offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, there will 100 percent be a lockout,\u201d one American League pitcher said. \u201cBut the real question is whether or not it\u2019ll bleed into losing games. Probably. This is (Rob) Manfred\u2019s last task to accomplish before it\u2019s all done, and I think he\u2019s going to try to get a salary cap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nineteen of those polled said they were not sure. Only two players said they did not expect a lockout to occur.<\/p>\n

In the fan survey, 77.7 percent of respondents said they believe MLB will miss games in 2027 as a result of a lockout. That specter serves as negotiating leverage for both the league and the MLB Players Association. But with the sport experiencing boosts in attendance, ratings and overall interest, it\u2019s also a fate that could have consequences for both sides.<\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2019s fan survey revealed 21.8 percent of respondents said missing games could turn them away from MLB \u201cfor a significant amount of time,\u201d while 33.7 percent said it would depend on how many games could be canceled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re not going to lose games,\u201d one player from the National League West said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to find a way to play 162, but there\u2019s going to be some kind of inconvenience with the spring training.\u201d<\/p>\n

As all sides brace for a labor fight this coming winter, the solution remains uncertain. In MLB\u2019s initial labor proposal<\/a>, the league pitched a hard salary cap of $245.3 million and hard floor of $171.2 million.<\/p>\n

Players have indicated they will fight hard against such a system. The fan survey, however, showed 57.9 percent of participating fans want a cap-and-floor system. Only 38.9 percent supported the game\u2019s current market system.<\/p>\n

When the question was narrowed, however, 44.4 percent of fans supported a soft cap and floor, compared with 39.7 percent supporting a hard cap and floor.<\/p>\n

The MLBPA\u2019s initial bargaining proposal pitched raising existing \u201cluxury tax\u201d thresholds and instituting a \u201cCompetitive Integrity Tax\u201d for clubs that do not meet minimum payroll benchmarks.<\/p>\n

Will there be an MLB lockout next season? Here’s what players think.<\/p>\n

Sam Blum<\/p>\n

For fans, a perception of poor competitive balance seems to drive at least some of the desire for a cap.<\/p>\n

When asked whether MLB\u2019s competitive balance is better or worse than the NBA, NFL and NHL \u2014 all of which operate with salary caps \u2014 57.7 percent of respondents said worse. Last season\u2019s Dodgers, operating with a league-high payroll, became the first team to win consecutive World Series since the Yankees from 1998-2000.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk yourself who is going to win the Super Bowl next year and you could have 15 possible choices,\u201d one fan responded. \u201cWorld Series? The Dodgers \u2026 and perhaps three or four other teams could get lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interestingly, when asked who was primarily responsible for the wide spending disparity in the sport, 59.9 percent of fans said owners who spent too little. Only 15.6 percent blamed owners who spend too much.<\/p>\n

The debates over the sport\u2019s financial system and overall parity will likely rage on for months. The league\u2019s current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1.<\/p>\n

Although a majority of fans we polled support some form of a cap-and-floor system, when asked who would be to blame if MLB ultimately misses games, only 21.9 percent of fans said they would blame the players. A total of 45.3 percent indicated they would blame owners. Just over 30 percent said they would blame both sides equally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to believe that both sides can understand that baseball is in a very good spot right now,\u201d said one of two players not expecting a lockout. \u201cThe league feels like it\u2019s as popular as ever. I don\u2019t think we should stunt the growth out of greed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In separate polls of 101 anonymous MLB players and almost 8,500 fans conducted by The Athletic, an overwhelming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":744635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85,3276],"class_list":["post-744634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-sports-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/744635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=744634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=744634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}