There is no denying that for the first time in years, MLB felt alive again. The 2025 season gave life to the sport, which had been lacking for a while. And it showed from the packed ballparks, the increased TV ratings, and star powers talking about the game—the World Series felt huge this time. But beneath all those bells and whistles is a growing sense that baseball might be heading towards a cliff!

No doubt the WS was huge. Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto went against Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the biggest stage. It was more than an American sport; it was an international showcase. Game 7 alone averaged 51 million viewers across the U.S., Canada, and Japan. Even longtime executives like Chaim Bloom couldn’t help but gush over the success.

But the sports labor deal expires in December 2026, and this, in turn, can bring a huge work stoppage and something that, according to the NY Times and many others, can turn fans away.

The NY Times captured the fear perfectly. “The danger of a work stoppage is in turning fans away.” 

The NY Times noted that even though fans eventually returned from a bad 232-day strike in 1994 and 1995, the world today is different. And it is true, isn’t it? Entertainment is on the TV, the phone, and in everyone’s pocket now. A shutdown at this point could damage the league; that simply cannot be undone.

At the GM meetings in Las Vegas, leaders had praised the game but also openly talked about their worried stance about the competitive balance tensions that could push the 2027 baseball shutdown. Teams like the Milwaukee Brewers, who are smaller market teams, openly lay out the stressors. Now the owners will meet this week in New York to discuss the labor strategy, and Rob Manfred has reiterated and warned multiple times about revenue gaps and competitive imbalance, signaling that some serious conflict might be coming.

The salary cap talk is already simmering from last year, and several owners are publicly in favor of it. And hovering on top of everyone’s heads is one huge, big blue cloud with a $400 million+ payroll—the Dodgers. They have the financial advantage, and their dominance in the sport has made the divide between the big and small market teams huge now.

League spokesperson Glen Caplin said, “Despite the success of the World Series, we consistently hear from fans who want us to address competitive balance and fairness so that every team has a chance to compete.”

The risk is simple: the longer the owners and the players end up fighting, the more fans tune out of the game. Anyway, the ticket prices are rising, and faith in a league won’t last long. Baseball honestly cannot afford a 1994-like situation. But unless something changes, all signs for now do point to the same ending: a collision between the owners and the players and a season 2027 that might not begin. In the end, the fans have to pay the price.

​​Can small-market teams keep up in MLB’s big-money era?

The Milwaukee Brewers had a great 2025 regular season, and they won a league-best 97 games. They then went and fell short against the Dodgers in the playoffs. For a small market team, their success was cited as proof that you don’t need to have a huge payroll to be competitive.

MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark said, “Our game is achieving records in attendance, ratings, and revenues, and the smallest-market team had the best record in the league. Baseball is doing great, and the league should be focused on keeping that momentum going.”

Even then, Brewers president Matt Arnold was quick to simmer all the enthusiasm. Though they did well, he mentioned that it is getting harder. He mentioned, “It takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of work to get to where we are, and a really good team of people. It’s the combination of working around the clock in every space to make sure that they’re very good. When you stare at just the payroll itself, I think that can make you feel uneasy. But there were also a lot of teams that didn’t even get in the playoffs that spent a lot of money. So it’s not just the money; it’s how you use it.”

That’s the reality in baseball—wealth does help, but it does not guarantee a title. And even big market teams struggle; just look at the New York Mets. They spent an arm and a leg, and even then haven’t won a World Series since 1986! And to say that disparity is not there would be a lie.

MLB’s own data shows that the ratio of top five to bottom five payrolls hit 4.7 in 2025; it’s the largest on record since 1985. LA spent $509 million and won back-to-back championships, while 15 teams spent less than $150 million. Sure, Milwaukee’s story proves that with smart management and teamwork, even smaller market teams can compete—but that’s one example, right?

Look at the Pirates—they haven’t won a World Series since 1979!