Major League Baseball projects they will lose $640,000 per game over an 82-game season in empty ballparks if they pay players their prorated salaries.
This is according to Ronald Blum of The Association Press, who obtained the presentation the commissioner's office made to the union.
The presentation was dated to May 12 and was the first step in negotiations between the league and union in starting the season. The union has requested financial documents from the league to confirm these figures.
MLB projects players will make 89% of all revenues this season unless players agree to a revenue sharing proposal. The league has proposed a 50-50 split with players this season.
This has been a point of contention between the two parties for decades, with union president Tony Clark calling any season proposal with revenue sharing a non-starter. The belief is that agreeing to revenue sharing will lead to a permanent salary cap.
Agreeing to a 50-50 revenue split would also mean players would have to take another substantial pay cut. This week, 2018 American League Cy Young award winner Blake Snell of the Rays spoke out against the proposal on a livestream:
Here’s Blake Snell discussing MLB’s revenue split proposal this afternoon on Twitch. pic.twitter.com/CCyCai42Aj
— John Flanigan (@jflan816) May 13, 2020
The union and league agreed to pay players a prorated portion of their salary in March, with both sides understanding that fans may not be able to attend games.
The Pirates are projected to lose $91 million if games are played in empty stadiums and players receive a prorated portion of their salaries. They had a projected $54.3 million player payroll before the shutdown.
Rob Manfred said in an interview with CNN this week that MLB stands to lose $4 billion if no season is played this year. MLB grossed a record $10.7 billion in 2019.
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