MLB’s 2022-26 Labor Deal Allows For Expansion To 32 Teams, But Likelihood Thin

On Tuesday, the long-anticipated public copy of the labor deal between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association was finally made public. As has been the case for over 20 years, the side codified the league’s ability to expand to 32 teams if they desire.

The labor deal was reached in March of 2022 but the actual binding language and other details between the union for the players and the league had not been published showing that lawyers on each side spent well over a year hammering out the language. With the Basic Agreement between the 30 clubs and the players now available on the MLBPA website, the matter of league expansion is again mentioned.

Under the heading of “Future Expansion” the provision in the labor deal is just 71 words, but would have huge implications on the business of Major League Baseball. This language has been in all the labor deals starting with the one that ran from 2007-11 but the topic has increased as commissioner Rob Manfred has said more than once that he sees the league as a growth industry.

The provision reads in part, “Notice of a decision to expand by two Clubs shall promptly be given to the Association and the Association may reopen this Agreement with reference solely to the effect upon the Players of such expansion, upon the giving of 10 days’ written notice.”

While Manfred has said expansion is something he sees the league investigating, he’s also said that a dependency on such discussions will not happen until the A’s and Rays have new ballparks. Both clubs continue to struggle to get those completed. The A’s have now entered into another land agreement to lower public costs, but it’s unclear whether that is enough to cover the public funding gap while the Rays have discussed building a new domed facility at the site of Tropicana Field and a group in Orlando is making noise that they may have an option available.

But even if those matters come together, expansion during the life of the current labor deal seems exceptionally thin. There would assuredly be a “cooling off” period to allow the A’s and Rays to settle into their new facilities, and Manfred and the owners would have time to see whether the possible +$4 billion in expansion fees would be worth the trade-off of diluting central revenues by two more clubs.

On top of just adding two teams, there would come realignment.

The league has already set into motion pieces that would allow for regional realignment where the American and National Leagues would become blurred. With the universal designated hitter and balanced scheduled, placing NL and AL teams into eight divisions of four based around regional locations becomes easier.

That doesn’t mean MLB would have carte blance to implement such realignment. Such actions would need to be collectively bargained with the players.

Ultimately, the boilerplate language in the latest labor agreement will be nothing more than stating the option is there through 2026, and nothing more. But at some point, expansion will become a real discussion. Whether it’s before the end of the 2020s will be the question.