Will an MLB Lockout Delay the A's 2027 Season and the Las Vegas Move?

Possibly. MLB's labor deal expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on December 1, 2026, and the Associated Press reports owners are likely to lock out players as soon as it does. A long lockout could delay the A's 2027 season, including their six Las Vegas games. No reporting ties a lockout to stadium construction, which remains on track for 2028.

This page separates what is on the record (dates, proposals, schedules) from what is still a guess. For the full 2027 game plan, see our guide to when the A's play in Las Vegas in 2027. For the building itself, see our A's stadium construction update.

Will There Be an MLB Lockout in 2027?

Nobody can say for certain until it happens, but every major outlet we checked expects one. Baseball's current five-year collective bargaining agreement was reached in March 2022, after a 99-day lockout, and it expires on December 1, 2026. In an October 29 story, the AP reported that MLB is likely to lock out the players as soon as the agreement expires.

NBC Sports' offseason calendar, published October 30, puts it more bluntly. Writer Eric Samulski called a lockout beginning December 2 "all but certain" and described the two sides as "extremely far apart." CBS Sports' offseason guide also says owners are very likely to lock out the players when the deal runs out.

A lockout is not a strike. In a lockout, the owners stop the work. According to NBC Sports, once the agreement expires, teams, coaches and staff cannot communicate with players on the 40-man roster. Minor leaguers who are not on a 40-man roster are not affected.

A lockout in December would not cancel any games by itself. The question is how long it lasts. Spring training games are scheduled to begin February 19, 2027, according to NBC Sports, and the AP says the regular season is scheduled to start March 24. None of that happens without a new deal.

What Are Owners and Players Fighting About?

The biggest issue is a salary cap. On May 28, 2026, the AP reported that owners had formally proposed a cap for the first time since the 1994-95 strike. MLB.com's Mark Feinsand laid out the details on July 31.

• Cap: $245.3 million in team payroll for 2027, described by MLB.com as a hard limit. MLB's November 3 proposal raised it to $258.2 million and moved the start to 2028.
• Floor: a minimum each team would have to spend. The July plan set it at $171.2 million. MLB's November 3 proposal raised it to $180.2 million, starting in 2028. Our salary floor explainer covers what that would mean for the A's.
• Revenue: MLB said it would share local media revenue equally among all 30 teams and split baseball revenue with players 50-50, per the AP.
• Player limit: the AP's October 29 story says management would cap any one player at 15% of his team's payroll.

A note on the floor figure. NBC Sports' October 30 offseason guide lists the proposed minimum as $154.1 million. The original AP and MLB.com reports, and Athletics On SI, all use $171.2 million. We could not find $154.1 million in any original report, so we use $171.2 million and flag the difference here.

The players want something very different. According to the AP, they are asking for expanded free agency and arbitration rights, a near-doubling of the major league minimum salary, more revenue sharing from high-revenue teams, and a tax on teams that keep payrolls below a certain level. The union has called the cap proposal a non-starter. Bruce Meyer now leads the players' association, the AP reports.

History is the reason fans are nervous. The AP notes that the owners' last cap push, in 1994, led to a 7 1/2-month strike and the first canceled World Series in 90 years. The 2021-22 lockout ended without lost games, but Opening Day moved from March 31 to April 7.

Why Does a Lockout Matter So Much to the A's?

For most teams, a lockout is a labor story. For the A's, it lands in the last season before a move. Las Vegas sports business writer Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz put it plainly in a June 25 headline: a potential 2027 lockout is "not great timing" and could slow the momentum the A's are building toward 2028. Snel reported that the A's hoped to make the 2027 playoffs to build excitement for the Las Vegas opening, a plan that depends on a 2027 season actually being played.

Money is the second reason. Athletics On SI beat writer Andrew L. Ferguson Jr. reported on October 7 that the A's 2026 Opening Day payroll was $94.7 million, well below the proposed floor, which MLB raised from $171.2 million to $180.2 million on November 3. If a floor in that range made it into a final deal, the A's would have to add a lot of salary. That is a proposal, not a rule. Nothing about the floor is settled until the two sides sign a new agreement.

Third, player work. The same SI piece points out that locked-out players cannot use team facilities or staff, which could slow rehab for injured A's players over the winter.

Does a Lockout Affect the A's Las Vegas Move?

ET on December 1, 2026, and the Associated Press reports owners are likely to lock out players as soon as it does.

This is really two questions, and they have different answers.

The stadium construction schedule

A lockout is a dispute between MLB's owners and the players' union. The people building the Las Vegas ballpark are construction crews, not players, and they are not part of that agreement. We found no reporting that a lockout would pause or slow work on the Strip. As of early October 2026, crews had installed the third and tallest roof arch, and the team says completion remains on track for the 2028 season, according to News 3 Las Vegas. The Nevada Independent reported in June that the ballpark will start hosting A's home games in April 2028.

That does not mean the schedule is guaranteed. It means the risks to the building are construction and financing risks, not labor-deal risks. Our stadium construction tracker follows those separately.

The team's game schedule

Games are where a lockout can bite. The A's released their 2027 schedule on July 16, 2026. According to FOX5 Las Vegas and LVSportsBiz, it opens March 25 at Pittsburgh and includes 81 home games: 75 at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento and six at Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin.

• May 31 to June 2: San Diego Padres, starting on Memorial Day.
• June 3 to June 5: Cincinnati Reds.

The Las Vegas games fall more than two months after the scheduled opener. A short delay like 2022's one-week push would not reach them. A stoppage that ran deep into the spring could, and canceled or rescheduled games are possible if it does. That is a scenario, not a forecast.

What Could a Work Stoppage Change, and What Could It Not?

Here is how we sort it, based on the reporting above.

Things a lockout could change:

• The start of spring training and the 2027 regular season, if talks drag on.
• Whether all 81 home games, including the six in Las Vegas, are played as scheduled.
• The A's offseason, since teams cannot deal with 40-man players during a lockout.
• How much the A's must spend on payroll, if a floor ends up in the new deal.
• Fan momentum heading into the first season on the Strip, as LVSportsBiz warned.

Things we found no evidence a lockout would change:

• Construction on the Las Vegas ballpark.
• The plan to open the ballpark for the 2028 season.
• The decision to move. The relocation is set; the labor fight is about the rules every team plays under.

Some coverage has floated darker scenarios. In October 2025, before the cap proposal was formal, Jason Burke of Athletics On SI wrote that a lockout could take 2027 "off the board," making 2026 the A's last season in California. That was an opinion about a possible outcome. No 2027 games have been canceled, and no lockout has started.

Why Are the GM Meetings in Las Vegas Worth Watching?

Before any lockout, baseball's front offices come to town. The general managers meetings run November 10 to 12 in Las Vegas, according to both CBS Sports and NBC Sports. CBS Sports describes them as the usual venue for off-field matters such as rule changes, with trades often discussed there as well.

The GM meetings are not where the labor deal gets signed. Owners meet November 17 to 19, per both outlets. Still, executives from every club gathering in Las Vegas three weeks before the deadline is the closest thing to a local front-row seat this offseason. If you are following the A's offseason, our A's 2027 offseason tracker will log moves as they happen.

What Happens Before December 1?

The calendar between now and the deadline is busy. According to NBC Sports and CBS Sports:

• November 2: free agents can sign with any team starting at 5 p.m. ET.
• November 10 to 12: GM meetings in Las Vegas.
• November 17: deadline for free agents to accept or reject qualifying offers.
• November 17 to 19: owners meetings.
• November 20: non-tender deadline.
• December 1, 11:59 p.m. ET: the labor deal expires.

The AP expects a wave of free agent signings before the deadline, as happened in 2021. Teams that sign players in November get roughly a month to work with them before a lockout, NBC Sports notes.

The Bottom Line

A lockout starting around December 2 is widely expected, but it has not happened yet, and no 2027 games have been canceled. If it comes, the risk to the A's is about games, payroll and momentum, not concrete and steel. The 2027 plan is still West Sacramento plus six Las Vegas games, and the Strip ballpark is still aimed at 2028. We will update this page when the deadline passes.

Sources

• Associated Press via KPRC Click2Houston, MLB's 2027 season threatened with lockout looming when labor deal expires Dec. 1 (October 29, 2026)
• Associated Press via WTOP, MLB owners propose a salary cap for the first time since baseball's 1994-95 strike (May 28, 2026)
• MLB.com, Details of MLB's proposed salary cap and floor system (Mark Feinsand, July 31, 2026)
• NBC Sports, MLB Offseason Calendar 2026-27: Key dates, free agency and lockout questions answered (Eric Samulski, October 30, 2026)
• CBS Sports, 2026-27 MLB offseason key dates and lockout guide (Mike Axisa, October 29, 2026)
• Athletics On SI, How MLB Lockout Could Affect Athletics in 2027 (Andrew L. Ferguson Jr., October 7, 2026)
• Athletics On SI, Column on how the labor fight could affect the A's Las Vegas debut (Jason Burke, October 17, 2025)
• LVSportsBiz, Not Great Timing: Potential MLB Lockout For 2027 Season Could Slow Down Athletics Building Momentum For Move To Las Vegas In 2028 (Alan Snel, June 25, 2026)
• LVSportsBiz, Report on the A's six 2027 games in Las Vegas, May 31 to June 5 (Alan Snel, July 16, 2026)
• FOX5 Las Vegas, Countdown to Vegas: A's set 2027 slate with six games at Las Vegas Ballpark (July 16, 2026)
• News 3 Las Vegas, Crews install tallest roof arch for Athletics stadium in Las Vegas (October 8, 2026)
• The Nevada Independent, Report from a June tour of the A's ballpark construction site (June 2026)

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