Major League Baseball has proposed shortening the regular season from 162 games to 154 games in an effort to persuade players to accept a salary cap in the league’s next collective bargaining agreement. The new shortened schedule will begin in 2029.
MLB’s CBA expires on December 1st, after this season’s World Series. The most controversial issue is the introduction of a salary cap for players. MLB is the only major American sports league without a cap. The league has been unable to convince the players’ union to adopt the agreement in several previous rounds of CBA negotiations.
A 154-game season was used from 1904 to 1960, with the exception of 1918 and 1919, when the schedule was shortened due to World War I. For the past 66 years, a 162-game regular season has been the norm, although some seasons have been shortened. MLB spokesman Glenn Caplin said in a statement that canceling eight games “is both good for the health of our players and creates new national broadcast time to showcase some of our most exciting teams and players.” “October is going to be even better for fans, with a shortened regular season, fewer weekday afternoon games, a longer division series and more opportunities to see the best pitchers on the biggest stage.”
As part of the proposal, MLB wants to establish Mondays as an exclusive broadcast slot for one or two games to “increase national exposure for the sport.” The league could sell packages of Monday-only games to streaming services in an effort to increase subscribers and advertising revenue. All teams not participating in international matches or matches will have an off day. According to MLB, teams that play on Monday will have Thursday off.
In addition to reducing the number of regular season games, MLB will extend the divisional round of the playoffs from five games to seven games and allow higher-seeded teams to select lower-seeded opponents in both the wild-card and divisional rounds.
In response to MLB’s proposed changes, the Major League Baseball Players Association asserted that the league has “reiterated that all proposals are conditional on player consent to the salary cap, a system that strips players of their rights and compensation, and other anti-player proposals.”
An MLB spokesperson confirmed Thursday that the proposed changes are contingent on the introduction of a cap and salary floor that would force teams to spend a certain amount of money on players. Still, the MLBPA said it would consider the proposed changes. “The players will consider these proposals and we will respond at the negotiating table,” the MLBPA said in a statement.
