Baseball strike of 1994
The Event A 234-day work stoppage by Major
League Baseball players during the regular
season
Date August 12, 1994, to April 2, 1995
Labor-management disagreements prematurely ended the
1994 baseball season and delayed the beginning of the
1995 season. The strike resulted in the cancellation of the
1994 World Series and disillusioned many of the sport’s
fans.
The baseball strike of 1994 came as a result of failed
negotiations between Major League Baseball (MLB)
and the Major League Baseball Players Association
(MLBPA) to establish a new collective-bargaining
agreement (CBA). On seven previous occasions in
the 1970’s and 1980’s, attempts to renegotiate the
CBA had resulted in a strike. Although the CBA ex-
pired in December, 1993, the owners and players’
union agreed to begin the 1994 season while a deal
was negotiated. On June 14, the owners presented
their proposals for changes to the CBA. In the new
agreement, owners wanted to implement a team sal-
ary cap and revenue sharing, which would transfer
money from the most financially successful teams to
the least profitable. Other proposals would decrease
the profit share of the players from 56 percent to 50
percent, remove salary arbitration for players not eli-
gible for free agency, and allow teams to retain free
agents by matching contract offers from other
teams. Donald Fehr, executive director of the
MLBPA, estimated that the agreement proposed by
the owners would cost the players $1.5 billion over
the course of a seven-year deal. Fehr made a counter-
offer, which for all practical purposes would have
maintained the status quo, keeping salary arbitra-
tion and free agency as they had been and raising the
minimum salary. Although negotiations continued
for two months, neither side made substantial con-
cessions.
The Players Walk Out Under federal law, if the two
sides did not reach an agreement by the end of the
baseball season, the owners could declare an im-
passe in negotiations and unilaterally implement a
salary cap. Rather than allow that to happen, on Au-
gust 12 the MLBPA went on strike. The timing of the
strike resulted in maximum financial loss for the
owners. Although the players had received most of
their yearly salary by August, the cancellation of the
baseball playoffs would cost the owners 75 percent of
their television revenues. Still, the players’ union
and the owners were unable to reach an agreement,
and a month after the strike began, Acting Commis-
sioner Bud Selig announced that the remainder of
the baseball season, including the playoffs, would be
canceled. The 1994 season was the first time since
1904 that the World Series had not been played.
At the end of 1994, owners declared negotiations
at an impasse and established a salary cap. In re-
sponse, the MLBPA filed a grievance with the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board (NLRB), stating that
the owners had not negotiated in good faith. The
NLRB ruled in the favor of the union, and on March
31, 1995, a federal court ordered MLB to operate
under the provisions of the previous CBA until a new
agreement could be reached. While the NLRB con-
sidered the union’s grievance, the owners worked to
begin the 1995 season using replacement players.
However, problems soon arose with the plan, as Bal-
timore Orioles owner Peter Angelos refused to em-
ploy replacements and as MLB ran into roadblocks
with labor law in both the United States and Canada.
As the owners confronted these issues, the NLRB
ruling nullified any need for replacement players.
On April 26, the 1995 season began, eight months af-
ter the players went on strike. Although the 1995
and 1996 seasons were played without any additional
work stoppage, the union and the owners did not
agree on a new CBA until October, 1996. Both sides
obtained a partial victory, as the plan contained pro-
visions for revenue sharing, as well as a luxury tax
collected from the teams with the top-five payrolls,
but also kept free agency and salary arbitration
much as they had been. Although intended to take
the place of a salary cap, the luxury tax had no obvi-
ous effect on players’ salaries, which continued to
rise. Additionally, the agreement allowed for two ex-
pansion teams for the 1998 season, a partial repeal
of MLB’s antitrust exemption, and the creation of
the Industry Growth Fund to promote baseball
around the globe.Impact The baseball strike had a negative impact
on both attendance and revenues. The players and
the owners each lost hundreds of millions of dollars
during the strike, and the dissatisfaction fans felt to-
ward baseball reduced attendance after play re-
sumed in April, 1995. Several years lapsed before at-The Nineties in America Baseball strike of 1994 87