At present, Major League Baseball doesn’t have a hard salary cap. The disparity between the payrolls of high-market teams, like the Dodgers, and the low-market teams, like the Miami Marlins, is glaring. As the current CBA approaches its expiration date, Commissioner Rob Manfred and the team owners are pushing for a salary cap. But the Players Association is actively against the proposal, and a lockout seems highly likely. In this high-stakes standoff, the San Francisco Giants‘ ownership just issued a stark warning about what the league stands to lose—and it’s far more than just games

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) ends on December 1, 2026. With the team owners pushing for a salary cap and the MLBPA disagreeing, a potential lockout is in question. MLBPA chief Bruce Meyer had already stated so a month ago. Now, in an interview with The Athletic, the Giants’ chairman, Greg Johnson, warned about how a lockout can be detrimental to the fan base. Johnson also dismissed the popular belief that the MLB wants a lockout in the 2027 season.

“The last thing MLB wants is a lockout right now. We recognize that there’s a lot of momentum in baseball, and a lockout is detrimental to the fan base,” said Johnson to The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly.

Baseball is known as America’s favorite pastime. In the last few years, the viewership of baseball has exponentially increased. The 2025 postseason recorded an average of 4.48 million viewers. It is the highest since 2017 and a +13% increase over 2024.

MLB would want to keep increasing the viewership, and a work stoppage would not be beneficial. Rather, a lockout can result in a drop. Fans would also not be too keen about a baseball season being partially delayed or canceled.

The last time the MLB owners actively pushed for a salary cap was in 1994. The standoff between the players and the owners led to the 1994-95 strike in the MLB. It began in August 1994 and continued for 232 days. As a result, the World Series was canceled that year, and no champion was crowned.

With the MLBPA acting chief Bruce Meyer already predicting a lockout, a stalemate looks inevitable. A salary cap, according to the players, is the owners’ way of curtailing the purse and paying them less. However, for baseball to continue, the players and the MLB must come to an agreement, and for that, negotiations must happen.

According to Johnson, for both parties’ benefit, the negotiations should start early, so they can arrive at a common ground sooner.

Johnson advised the players, as per The Athletic, “Whatever form this takes. Have an open mind and an open discussion, instead of just saying you’re against whatever it is we start with.”

The salary cap also comes with a floor. Reportedly, the cap would range from $240 million to $260 million, with a floor of $140 million to $160 million. It means that if the Dodgers have to curtail their payroll, then teams like the Marlins will have to increase it.

The Giants’ owner expected an open mind from the players, while emphasizing the importance of CBA talks early. Now, it remains to be seen whether team owners will also approach the discussions with an ‘open mind.’

Meanwhile, here is a detailed look at the increase in viewership of MLB last season.

MLB witnessed a significant increase in viewership

The total attendance for the 2025 MLB season reached 71,409,421, according to MLB.com. After 2005-2007, it was a third straight year of growth for the first time in 18 years. It was also the third consecutive season to record an attendance of more than 70 million.

Last season witnessed an increase in viewership nationally, locally, and on MLB.TV and internationally in Japan and Canada.

With an average of 2.04 million views, i.e., an increase of 9%, Fox had its most-watched season since 2022. ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball had its most successful season in 12 years. They had an average of 1.8 million viewers, which was a 21% increase from the previous year.

In Japan, NHK saw its regular-season ratings reach an all-time high. They averaged 2.65 million viewers, a 20% jump compared to the 2024 season.

As per ESPN, the Toronto Blue Jays’ victory in the ALCS over the Mariners, which put them in the World Series, recorded 6 million views in Canada. It was the most-viewed game on Sportsnet in Canada last year.

With MLB generating so much buzz, reflected in the increase in worldwide viewership, everyone involved with the game would hope for a quick resolution to the ongoing tussle, because no one will benefit from it.