The divide between big and small market clubs is widening.

Juan Soto is getting a contract worth around $765 million over 15 years from Major League Baseball’s New York Mets’ owner Steve Cohen. Cohen is one of 30 MLB owners and his spending probably has alarmed some MLB owners, especially those who have lost millions of dollars because of the Diamond Sports Group cable TV regional sports network bankruptcy. What does this mean? Small market clubs cannot compete with big market teams, the two New York franchises and Los Angeles. The owners deal with the players in the collective bargaining agreement ends in just two years which means there could be labor uncertainty going into 2027.

There will be a faction of owners who will push for a salary cap like in the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. There could be some infighting among the owners about shared TV revenue. Some of the big market teams are weathering the cable TV cord cutting such as the New York franchises while small and mid-market franchise owners have lost contracts and are getting pennies on the dollar with new deals or MLB arranged broadcasts. The big market owners probably do not want to share local TV revenues and want to keep the status quo. There are other provisions of the present CBA that will be revisited including the growth of the game internationally. MLB is not getting into the international market development area in 2025. There are games in Tokyo but MLB has sewn up that market. Planned games in Paris, France fell through. MLB owners seem to have fumbled the opportunity to get to 32 teams. Because of two hurricanes, there is some doubt about the Tampa Bay Rays’ ownership getting a St. Petersburg stadium and the Athletics franchise owner John Fisher still does not have financing for a Las Vegas stadium. Juan Soto’s contract is just one MLB problem.

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