MLB cancels Opening Day games as contract negotiations stall
Opening Day is ruined, as Major League Baseball has canceled more games in the 2022 season due to ongoing contract disputes between team owners and the players' union.
The 15 games slated for what was intended to be Opening Day, on March 31, have been axed. The new Opening Day is now slated for April 14, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement late Wednesday.
Team owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association, or MLBPA, spent hours this week trying to hash out a new contract, Manfred said. But to no avail.
"Regrettably, after our second late-night bargaining session in a week, we remain without a deal," Manfred said, adding that team owners "went to extraordinary lengths to meet the substantial demands of the MLBPA."
Leaders from the players' union sent team owners "a set of comprehensive proposals" Wednesday afternoon and haven't heard back since, the MLBPA said in a statement.
The league's cancellation of Opening Day games was "completely unnecessary," the MLBPA also said. The 15 canceled games are in addition to the first two series of games Manfred scrapped. The two series were nixed after team owners and players couldn't come to an agreement in Florida last month.
MLB players signed a five-year employment contract with the league in 2017, but that collective bargaining agreement expired December 2. Without a contract, players are entering the season without specifics on the legal terms that govern their pay and working conditions.
After leaving Florida, both sides last week flew to New York, where the league is based. Negotiations restarted on Tuesday. One of the biggest hang-ups in this recent round of talks is the league's proposal of an international players draft, which the union opposes, CBS Sports reported.
More canceled games means more lost ticket sales at the stadium, along with lost revenue from concession stands and merchandise shops. And players as a result may receive only a fraction of the annual pay they enjoyed last season. Based on salaries last year, which totaled just over $3.8 billion, MLB players stand to lose a combined $20.5 million for each day wiped off the 186-day regular-season schedule, the Associated Press reported.
It's unclear if fans who bought Opening Day tickets will get refunds or get to use them on April 14. MLB did not respond to a request for comment from CBS MoneyWatch about prepaid tickets.
MLB has spent nearly 100 days in an owner-imposed lockout. Players and owners have been arguing over a range of issues, chief among them being pay.
MLB generated a record $10.7 billion in revenue in 2019, according to Forbes. But that figure cratered to about $4 billion in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The average MLB player's salary in 2021 was $4.1 million, down almost 5% from 2019, according to the Associated Press.
