NEWSLETTER
Although most of the regular season is still theoretically salvageable from here, a normal Spring Training is not. Even if the sides came to an agreement on a new CBA today, only about the last two weeks of Spring Training would be taking place when it was supposed to be. From there, everything would be handled on the fly, long after people have made – and changed – travel plans.
While I mostly feel for the fans who’ve had their baseball springs wrecked for the third straight year (and this time NOT because of a global pandemic), I also feel really bad for the local businesses that are probably reeling from what is happening. Just like my sympathies for the workers and businesses that will be impacted by the regular season games missed, the same is going to be true in Arizona and Florida.
The losses could be massive overall. Bob Nightengale reports that the combined economic loss of Spring Training for Arizona and Florida would exceed $1.2 *BILLION*. Some of that could possibly be recouped whenever games do happen, but, like I said, you won’t see even close to the same usage of hotels, restaurants, and other associated activities. Plans have already changed.
Just more of the collateral damage of MLB’s decision to lockout the players in December, and the inability to come to a deal over the following three months. Sure seems like that would’ve been plenty of time if the people of Arizona and Florida, and the fans everywhere else, were even a remote consideration.
