After several weeks of speculation over how Major League Baseball would look to stage a 2020 regular season, team owners reached an agreement last week to move forward with a plan that called for an estimated 82 games to be played at home stadiums.
The next step was presenting the proposal to the Players Association, who must approve any deal in order for a season to be played. Justin Turner, who is the Los Angeles Dodgers’ union representative, recently said the matter boils down to an entirely new collective bargaining agreement being written for 2020.
One of the issues the league and MLBPA are at odds over is economics. The players are of the opinion that was resolved through an agreement with MLB in March. However, owners now contend prorated salaries for 2020 was contingent on fans being able to attend games.
According to Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, the Dodgers would face $233 million in losses by paying prorated salaries and moving ahead with games that draw zero attendance:
The New York Yankees alone would have $312 million in local losses when calculating their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. New York’s figure includes about $100 million toward the bonds that financed new Yankee Stadium, money that already has been paid for 2020.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were at $232 million in local losses, followed by the New York Mets at $214 million, Chicago Cubs at $199 million and Boston Red Sox at $188 million.
Although the owners’ messaging has changed over the past week, the general sentiment has held all parties involved wish to find a solution for 2020. Economically, the MLBPA has maintained they are not interested in agreeing to a 50-50 revenue split.
Beyond some of the financial disagreements, there also is the factor of player safety and coronavirus testing. MLB reportedly submitted an outline with several guidelines aimed at addressing those topics.
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