welcome
CNBC

CNBC

Sports

Sports

MLB weighs a salary cap as potential lockout looms in 2026

CNBC
Summary
Nutrition label

87% Informative

Major League Baseball has stood alone among the major U.S. sports leagues as the only one without a salary cap.

The league's current CBA expires on Dec. 1, 2026 .

There are nine teams spending more than $200 million on players in 2025 , and there are five spending less than $100 million .

The average MLB salary hasn't kept pace with the league's increase in revenue in the past decade .

Joel Litvin , a former NBA executive, says a salary cap would be good for players.

The MLBPA is against introducing a salary floor, but it views restrictions on what a player could earn in a free market as unacceptable.

The Dodgers make more than $300 million per year from their 25-year deal with Charter Communications .

MLB teams have heavily relied on regional channels to house much of each team's games.

MLB 's national media rights deals expire in 2028 , and the league's goal is to sell more packages of games to new and old media partners.

VR Score

92

Informative language

93

Neutral language

51

Article tone

semi-formal

Language

English

Language complexity

41

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

Affiliate links

no affiliate links