Bob Nightengale doesn’t mince words. The legendary USA Today MLB columnist, who’s seen more labor battles than most fans care […]
Bob Nightengale doesn’t mince words. The legendary USA Today MLB columnist, who’s seen more labor battles than most fans care to remember, dropped a reality check in a recent interview on the Sportsnaut Interview podcast.
“Yeah, I think it’s probable that we’re gonna see a work stoppage,” Nightengale said, eyeing the horizon after the 2026 season. “The current collective bargaining agreement will end on December 1, 2026, so the situation remains stable, but it could turn into chaos at any point.”
Nightengale pointed to the lack of real talks as a red flag, as MLB owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association continue to be at odds over several key points standing in the way of a new collective bargaining agreement.
“The bitterness between the two sides is boiling over much earlier than usual,” Nightengale added. He said he thinks a stoppage is likely “just because there haven’t been any really concrete negotiations yet,” he explained.
Where does the bitterness between the owners and MLBPA start? Primarily, over some major reforms and proposals that keep the sides far apart.
For example, team owners now support the implementation of a salary cap, which would help control the high spending of the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. But players? They’re slamming the door shut. “The players say they’re not even willing to talk about it, don’t even bring it up,” Nightengale noted. The stalemate shows no indication of resolving itself in the near future, which forms the longtime MLB columnists’ opinion.
Past MLB Work Stoppages Severely Damaged the Game
For many fans, despite the passing of 31 years, the 1994 strike continues to haunt the game and its fans, including yours truly. As my childhood hero, Tony Gwynn flirted with hitting .400 that season, the season ended early as the players walked out. No World Series, no October glory. The 1994 strike, the longest MLB work stoppage ever, left the game with deserted ballparks and deep disappointment for years. It took almost 4 seasons for MLB to recover from it.
Nightengale’s take makes me wonder if we’re heading down a similar path, though he thinks this one won’t drag on. “I don’t think it’ll be a long one because just the sport is going too well right now and everybody’s making way too much money,” he added.
Fair point. 2025 was a great season of growth for MLB and its teams. The sport is drawing more fans to games, while TV viewership reached its peak during the Dodgers’ World Series run and several teams posted record-breaking financial gains. 2025 was the third consecutive season MLB surpassed 70 million (something not achieved since 2015-2017) and the first three straight years of attendance growth since 2005-2007. Six teams exceeded 3 million fans and sponsorship revenue for MLB teams exceeded $2 billion for the first time (up 9% year-over-year), reflecting growing commercial interest.
TV Revenue a Key Point of Contention
But here’s the rub. As Nightengale noted, the regional TV mess also weighed on the sport and remains a key point of contention between the sides. The sports broadcasting industry faced a major crisis as Diamond Sports Group, one of the biggest regional team TV partners, declared bankruptcy (now named Main Street Sports Group), which forced several teams across the league to scramble for new broadcasting partners.
The players are opposed to increased (centralized) TV rights sharing because they want teams to use the funds to pay their players. They argue small-market teams would pull in a hefty chunk of cash from the shared pot — money that comes mostly from the bigger, richer clubs. That steady paycheck rolls in no matter how the team performs on the field. So, if an owner knows the checks are coming regardless, there’s less pressure to go all-out chasing wins by shelling out for top talent or pushing the payroll higher.
“Baseball would love to have a revenue-sharing program like the NFL does with the local TV,” Nightengale explained.
The Dodgers, along with other big-market clubs, oppose revenue sharing because they generate hundreds of millions from their own television network. The situation presents a difficult challenge because it affects players financially, but the problem does not directly impact their wallets. The situation has the potential to intensify the current division between the owners, players and the league.
MLB Players Fighting Salary Cap
The salary floor issue stands as a major point of disagreement between the two parties. MLB supports a proposal as an incentive which would require teams to implement a salary cap but simultaneously increase their minimum team payroll to make small-market owners spend more on their teams.
“We have a salary cap we’re gonna bring up that salary floor too and the players will make more money,” Nightengale put it, channeling the league’s pitch. This is meant to find some middle ground with the players while also pressuring known cheapskate owners (Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates & Las Vegas A’s, for example). The MLBPA shows no indication that they will accept this explanation. “The union believes that if there’s a salary floor it comes with a cap,” Nightengale said.
So that’s the big impasse: team owners want to achieve equal team power (and a move to more competitiveness like the NFL), but players want unrestricted freedom to earn their salaries. A luxury tax modification might solve the problem, but it remains uncertain.
Not all Hope of Avoiding an MLB Work Stoppage is Lost
Nightengale maintains optimism despite the Grand Canyon-sized gap between the two sides. But he agrees the adoption of a salary cap is vital to the future health of the game. While the players are fighting its adoption, there’s far more downside for them should they refuse after further negotiations.
“I’d like to see a salary cap implemented into the game, it just kind of levels the playing field for everyone,” the said.
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