How Does The MLB Lockout Impact Future Betting Odds?

• The MLB and MLBPA’s CBA expired without a new deal in place, resulting in the owners voting to begin a lockout.
• There’s no telling how long this will last and the impacts it will have, but it’s more likely to be minimal than anything else.

LAS VEGAS – The MLB is currently in a lockout and while the start of the season is still a while away, it’s better to solve the problems sooner rather than later.

What Each Side Is Fighting For

To determine what kind of impact the lockout will have, it’s important to know what each side is trying to accomplish and how difficult it will be to come to an agreement. Although not an exhaustive list, it seems as if the players want a raised luxury tax, a change to service-time manipulation and the ability for younger players to get paid more.

Naturally, the owners don’t want any of that to happen and will be fighting to keep things unchanged. Until a new CBA is agreed to a signed, there is a complete halt in the MLB in terms of all business including free agency and overall contact in general.

Will It Impact The Odds?

Ultimately, whether legal sports betting sites see any sort of impact on their odds comes down to just how long this lockout lasts. Rob Manfred, the MLB’s commissioner, is “optimistic” the 2022 season won’t be impacted, which very well could be true.

At the end of the day, most players want to be on the field and the owners want them playing to be able to sell tickets and make money. This should lead to the end of the lockout at some point prior to spring training, but if not, things could get worse.

Since players and franchises are unable to communicate with one another, there’s no way for free agents to sign contract, leaving them unemployed until negotiations can start back up.

This isn’t the first time the owners have initiated a lockout, with this actually being the fourth occurrence. None of the previous three in 1973, 1976 or 1990 resulted in any missed games. Given the history, it seems as if things will be sorted out prior to the beginning of the season.

The current World Series odds look about as expected now, but it is possible that MLB betting sites see some changes as the lockout progresses and teams are prevented from making deals in free agency.

News tags: MLB | MLB Lockout | Rob Manfred