MLB Announces Opening Day Will Be Delayed, First Week of Games Canceled

Nine days of negotiations failed to produce a new deal, and the league plans on following through on its plans to cancel regular-season games.

After nine straight days of meetings failed to produce a new collective bargaining agreement, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the start of the 2022 regular season will be delayed while the owners and players continue to work toward a deal.

"I am going to cancel some regular season games."

–– MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred pic.twitter.com/I15H1RBEHf

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 1, 2022

”We worked hard to avoid an outcome that's bad for our fans, bad for our players and bad for our clubs,” Manfred said. “I want to assure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort by either party.”

Prior to Manfred’s announcement, the owners made their “best and final” proposal to the players ahead of the deadline, which reportedly featured no changes to the current competitive balance tax thresholds and marginal raises to the league’s minimum salary. It was unanimously rejected by the players' association, which released a statement after the league’s decision saying it was ”disgusted, but sadly not surprised.”

The union went on to say that the cancellation of games is ”the culmination of a decades-long attempt by owners to break our Player fraternity. As in the past, this effort will fail.”

Statement from the Major League Baseball Players Association: pic.twitter.com/rmpciPsQm4

— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) March 1, 2022

MLB’s position during negotiations had been that if a deal was not reached by Monday, then the start of the regular season would be delayed and that the teams will not play a full 162-game schedule. Following 16 hours of negotiations on Monday, the league pushed its deadline back to 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, though no deal could be reached by that time. Opening Day had been scheduled for March 31.

Manfred said the first week of games, amounting to two series per team, would be canceled.

While the two sides continue to work toward reaching an agreement and ending the lockout, the players’ association has reportedly organized a training facility in Arizona, with interest in establishing a similar one in Florida, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic. It is unclear when the owners and players plan to meet again.