Players and owners are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, and the current CBA expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1. There is potential for this to disrupt the 2027 season, depending on how the labor battle plays out.
“Without any baseball games, it would have a significant impact on our annual business,” said Mike Sukitch, the owner of Mike’s Beer Bar and the North Shore Tavern.
He expects a full-season lockout would mean he takes a 20% hit.
“If we do have a lockout, it’ll be a tough year next year. But it’s also something I’m already planning for because it’s not unexpected,” he said.
For the past six months, he said he’s been thinking about what a baseball-free summer would look like for his businesses. It includes cutting costs, holding off on baseball-related ad buys and finding new ways to attract people to the bar.
“I want an entire season, but I just don’t think that they will come to their senses,” he said.
A sticking point hanging over the labor battle is that owners want a salary cap and players do not.
“As far as there being a lockout on Dec. 1, that’s absolutely happening. No question about that,” said KDKA Sports’ Robby Incmikoski, the author of “Sacred Grounds.” “The question really becomes, how long are they going to be in a lockout? If we get to say mid-January, late January, even into mid-February, then the prospect of missing games and pushing back the beginning of spring training, then it becomes a problem.”
It’s possible an entire season is missed, he said.
“I don’t think either side is going to allow that to happen because the league is in such a great place, and there’s just way too much at stake for both sides,” Incmikoski added.
