Major League Baseball has proposed shortening the regular season from 162 games to 154 as part of its push for a salary cap, a move that sets up a high-stakes confrontation with the players' union ahead of the December 1 expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.
The cap is the most contentious issue on the table. MLB owners have long sought a hard ceiling on player salaries — a mechanism the NFL, NBA and NHL all use — while the MLB Players Association has resisted any cap in every negotiation since the union was founded in 1966. The current CBA runs out December 1, after this season's World Series concludes.
Shortening the schedule would cut eight games of player pay under the current per-game salary structure and reduce revenue from tickets, concessions and local broadcasts. Whether the league frames the cut as workload management or as a bargaining chip, the union will treat it as a direct hit to player earnings.
A 154-game season is not new. MLB used that length from 1904 through 1960, except for 1918 and 1919, when the schedule was shortened because of World War I. The league expanded to 162 games in 1961, when the American League added two teams, and the National League followed in 1962. The 162-game format has stood for more than six decades.
The proposal arrives as baseball faces falling attendance and aging viewership. MLB drew about 70 million fans in 2024, down from more than 73 million in 2019, and the league has experimented with rule changes — a pitch clock, larger bases, restrictions on defensive shifts — to speed up games and draw younger viewers.
Any change to the season length or salary structure must be negotiated with the union. The last two labor fights were costly: the 1994-95 strike canceled the World Series and stretched 232 days, and the 2021-22 lockout delayed Opening Day by a week and wiped out 184 games.
The union has not publicly responded to the 154-game proposal. Executive director Tony Clark has repeatedly said players will not accept a salary cap in any form, calling it a nonstarter in prior negotiations.
Both sides have until December 1 to reach a deal. If they don't, the league can lock out players or the union can strike — either of which would threaten the 2026 season.
