A CBA Win for MLB Owners Might Cost Them in the Future
I wrote a piece last month outlining why I was skeptical that a new CBA would be reached in time to get the season started as scheduled on March 31. MLB owners seem absolutely committed to not ceding ground to the players on the core economic issues, including the Competitive Balance Tax (or Luxury Tax) and how young players are paid. The owners have relentlessly utilized gains they made in the last two CBAs to hold MLB salary increases well below the rate that revenues have increased over the last few years.
This tweet from Maury Brown, Senior Contributor at Forbes who has covered the business of baseball for decades, graphically shows the disparity between rising MLB revenues, the initial tier of spending that makes teams liable to pay the Competitive Balance Tax, and the Average Opening Day payroll for MLB clubs:
This is a good visual representation of MLB estimated revenues via Forbes, the average Opening Day Payroll via the AP, and the CBT first tier. Graph pulled together by The Athletic. It tells the story: revenues vastly outpacing CBT and player salaries. pic.twitter.com/dxIwMZ4JeH
— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) February 4, 2022
As Brown points out further down the Twitter thread, the Players Association has asked for an increase in the minimum MLB salary from $570,500 to $750,000 — a 31% increase — while MLB has only offered a 5% increase to $615,000. Now, while I understand that $615,000 would be a life-changing salary for most folks, the revenue data would support that MLB owners could afford to be more generous than a 5% increase. But clearly, MLB's strategy has been to put maximum pressure on the players. That only happens when games start being canceled at the beginning of the season.
I'm not going to cry for the players, who have it much better than most of us, but I do think that MLB owners are underestimating the amount of damage they will do to the game with a protracted lockout. Yes, most current fans will come back to the game when it comes back. However, another black eye for the sport will not help reverse the undeniable fact that baseball has continued to lose ground in popularity to football and basketball in recent years. Meanwhile, the average age of baseball fans continues to skew older and older. Eventually, that math works against the sport.
One more tweet for you here. My friend Mack at Mack's Mets retweeted this one that really gives a baseball fan reason to question the sanity of MLB letting this thing drag on:
According to Forbes, the average valuation of every Major League Baseball team has grown by close to $140,000,000 every single year over the last decade.Owners could end this lockout comfortably by agreeing to spend just ~$10m more each year.Do not side with the owners.— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) February 3, 2022
Think about that. As much as some owners like to cry poverty and Rob Manfred positions himself as the staunch defender of small-market teams, these clubs stand to lose far more if the lockout drags into the summer and casual fans turn away from the game.
To finish reading this article on Mike's Mets, please click here.
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