CLEARWATER, Fla. — Baseball fans are coping with disappointment as delays continue in the spring training season. Those delays will extend to March 5 at the soonest.
The spring training season was supposed to start on Feb. 26. MLB and the MLB Players Association are in a lockout over negotiations. That lockout has left local businesses in limbo.
“They’re talking March 5," Loraine Bronson, a server at Lenny's Restaurant, said. "Now we don’t know how to staff, we don’t know what to prepare for, want to open up another couple of days but we’re unsure."
Lenny's has been open in Clearwater for more than 40 years. It's located near Baycare Ballpark, where the Philadelphia Phillies play their spring games.
“Get it together," Bronson said. "Make it happen. They should’ve been doing this in December [or] in January, so we would have a plan. “
Every missed game costs businesses big. In 2018, the spring training season had a $687.1 million economic impact in Florida, according to a Florida Spring Training Economic Impact Study, compiled by Tallahassee-based Downs & St. Germain Research to determine the Grapefruit League’s overall economic impact.
"It's probably my best month out of the year," Bronson said. "March is my best month financial out of the whole year."
These delays come after a shortened and delayed 2021 spring training season due to COVID-19. Stadiums were "filled" with cardboard cutouts. Leaving fans looking forward to a full and on-time 2022 spring and regular season.
“Who wants to go to a ball game when there’s not a fan in the stadium? They did that, it didn’t work," Bronson said.
Right now, negotiations delays are not expected to impact the regular season. If a deal isn't hammered out soon, that conversation could change.
The league and MLBPA are scheduled to meet Monday.