Now that the Los Angeles Dodgers have officially won back-to-back World Series titles, a painful reality begins to set in for not only the league but the sports industry as a whole.
In relation to the MLB, the precedent of needing a salary cap becomes increasingly prevalent, as the teams with the biggest payroll and salary have continuously been at the top of the league for 10 whole years now, with the last small market team to win the World Series being the Kansas City Royals in 2015.
The Dodgers’ payroll, which entered the 2025 season peaking just above 500 million in total spending, including players like two-way star Shohei Ohtani, was just one of the several reasons why fans around the league and others called out the Dodgers for “ruining baseball” as the boys in blue gear for a threepeat.
With the league’s labor lockout being slated for Dec. 2, 2026, and with the main topic of discussion being about the need for the implementation of a salary cap, which was the cause for a similar seven-and-a-half-month strike in the 1994-1995 season, many fear that baseball might not show that next season.
Owners are arguing for a salary cap, as it limits what teams like the Dodgers and New York Mets are doing, and floods their roster with high salaries to match the performance and skill of the players. Players argue against this, as they want to earn more money, and a salary cap would do so.
Some would argue that it is the players’ fault, demanding such a high salary as a form of greed, but in the context of the sports industry’s expanding market as a whole, players seem to be compensating for their worth within the network.
A relevant example of this bargaining on the part of the players’ side would be what happened with guard Dennis Schroder in 2021, who was playing well at this time, where he turned down the Los Angeles Lakers’ four-year contract extension for 84 million, seeking more, which he wouldn’t get, resulting in him settling for a one-year contract for 5.9 million in Boston.
Some would say this is a humorous overestimation of one’s value to the team. Still, it has been a growing trend for players to opt into higher contracts, not only to reflect recent performance, but also to align with the market value itself.
For context, forward LeBron James’ contract over the years has skyrocketed. From four million in his rookie year to 52 million in his current 23rd season. James’ contract is increasing not just because he is one of the greatest players to have ever played the game, even at 40, but also because the NBA market is constantly growing. So James’ contract will compensate for the increase in the industry’s scale.
Many of the most significant additions to sports leagues include the widespread implementation of sports betting and its impact on the masses, the expansion into international territory through exhibition games and promotions, and the division of media rights.
These need monetary opportunities have given more money to the pockets of league executives while making sports more multifaceted and complex.
Sports betting, now more mainstream, has opened a whole new can of worms, with several scandals and even federal cases hindering the league and its players. Some notable examples include the Ohtani betting incident, the lifetime bans for match fixing imposed on former NBA player Jontay Porter, and the recent FBI sting operation targeting Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier for gambling with the mafia.
It might seem ludicrous to be dealing with the mafia, but when there is such a massive market and potential to gain money from just picking the correct stats, which the players can control to some degree, it seems doable.
This pursuit of more monetary influence, rather than playing for the love of the game or the entertainment factor, is diluting the sport itself, as it is also harder to watch a game nowadays due to the numerous media deals the leagues have made.
Based on the trends of the league in the past, this market is expected to continue growing, and more issues regarding contract and salary conflicts are likely to arise.
The only thing the majority of fans can do now is hope that the executives come to a sensible conclusion, since, as of now, money is all that’s on their minds.