'The Damage Has Been Done': Downtown Businesses Fear Fallout From MLB Lockout
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As the Major League Baseball lockout continues, there's concern among fans and businesses about losing games.
A number of downtown Minneapolis bars and restaurants rely on Twins home games.
The lockout is the latest curveball thrown throughout two years of uncertainty. In 2020, COVID-19 delayed the season for months, hurting businesses. Then last year, some of the same concerns emerged when the season started.
Normally by now the Twins would be holding spring training games in sunny Florida, but many of those games have already been canceled, along with the first two series of the regular season, because baseball owners and the players' union can't agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.
It's a loss too for Darby's Pub and Grill in downtown Minneapolis, just a couple blocks from Target Field. They rely on that foot traffic from fans going to and from Twins games. This is a major disappointment for them and they are hoping players and owners can reach an agreement before more business is lost.
"It's a huge part of my business. It's like you have billionaire owners and millionaire players that can't seem to figure out a way to split up all the money, and it's guys like me that suffer," owner Marcus Dorn said. "From a fan standpoint, this couldn't be worse than what it was. Even if we only lose six games, the damage has been done."
Right now, the earliest the season could start is April 8, which is two weeks later than the season was supposed to start. Commissioner Rob Manfred could lift the lock out and let the season start with the old collective bargaining agreement in place. But that's unlikely to happen for a variety of reasons, and it could mean the players would strike.
