The MLB season is very much up in the air at this point. It's most prominent players are in a very prominent spat in the public about how to split revenue & how much players should be paid. Nationals pitcher and MLBPA executive member Max Scherzer very publicly rejected the owners latest proposal which called for an additional paycut beyond the prorated salaries.
The players are expected to counter with a proposal of a season of over 100 games and a full dispersal of the prorated salaries but what if the owners stand firm? What if talks continue to break down and a 2020 season doesn't happen at all? Could it affect the sport as much as the 1994 players strike that lasted for 232 days and led to a cancellation of the 1994 World Series?
. When MLB returned in 1995 they saw a 20-percent dip in attendance, from an average of over 30,000 fans in 1994 to just 25,000 in 1995. The league would not see its average attendance top 30,000 again until 2006. MLB has struggled to stay relevant in recent years as we barely talk about it on sports radio and by the time the postseason starts we have already moved onto the NFL almost 24/7. It will take time for fans to comeback to sporting events to begin with but imagine how much worse it will be after an entire season that gets scrapped.
The business of the sport has changed quite a bit since 1994 especially with TV contracts worth well over $1 Billion per season so the impact on less fans in attendance might be easier to swallow than 25 years ago but how will fans feel if the greedy owners continue to play hard ball? Will you take the time to go to games and spend money for a sport that seemingly does not really care about their players or their fans?
Baseball needs to comeback if it wants to thrive after the pandemic instead of just trying to survive like it did in 1995.