After a 99-day lockout, major divisions, acrimony, accusations of bad faith, and two late-night bargaining sessions, the board of the MLB Players’ Association reportedly voted 26-12 to accept MLB’s proposal for a transformative new collective bargaining agreement. 

The 2022 season will have a full 162-game slate for each team, though Opening Day will be delayed by a week. Many of the underlying economic structures of the game will be altered by the deal, which is pending full ratification.

• The competitive-balance tax threshold — perhaps the greatest source of tension throughout the lockout — has reportedly been raised to $230 million this season, up from $210 million in 2021, and will rise to $244 million by 2026. 
• The minimum player salary has been bumped to $700,000 from $570,500 and will rise to $780,000 over the next five years.
• A new bonus pool of $50 million for high-performing pre-arbitration players — who generally play for minimum salaries — has been introduced.

Play Ball!

The season is set to begin on April 7. Between now and then, we are likely to see a nearly unprecedented flurry of signings and trades, as there are still hundreds of free agents left on the market. Five players are predicted to land deals north of $100 million.

To facilitate a deal, the two sides agreed to table discussions for an international draft. Should the draft be agreed to by July 25, the league would remove pick compensation where it currently applies to certain free-agent signings.

Chelsea FC has entered uncharted waters: The United Kingdom government sanctioned team owner Roman Abramovich, seizing the team and putting its planned sale on hold.

The Russian-Israeli billionaire had his assets frozen by the Boris Johnson administration over his ties to Vladimir Putin. The oligarch has disputed the charges against him and said he has been involved in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

• The U.K. government stated the club would have a special license to meet obligations such as fulfilling fixtures and paying staff.
• Existing ticket holders and season-ticket holders will be able to go to games, but the club will not be able to sell new tickets for now.
• Abramovich faces a prohibition on transactions with U.K. individuals and businesses, as well as a travel ban.
• Abramovich was one of seven people sanctioned by the U.K. with an estimated $19.7 billion total asset hit.

Shares of Evraz, a Russian steel company of which Abramovich owns 29%, were suspended on the London Stock Exchange.

Sale in Limbo

Abramovich had been seeking to sell the club before sanctions hit, and around 20 potential bidders had expressed interest. None had reportedly met the billionaire’s asking price of $4 billion.

Chelsea also held a $2 billion debt to its owner, which Abramovich said he would waive when the club was sold.

The fate of the sale and that loan are now up in the air.

Vivid Seats reported record quarterly revenue of $163.9 million in its fourth quarter, with a net income of $300,000. Full-year revenue reached $443 million, though the company reported a net loss of $19.1 million in its first year as a public company.

The ticket seller acquired daily fantasy sports app Betcha Sports during the quarter for an upfront purchase price of $25 million, with additional payments of up to $40 million. 

On the company’s earnings call, Vivid Seats CEO Stan Chia highlighted that the acquisition will allow Vivid to “extend our marketplace technology into the online gaming sector, accelerating our journey into naturally adjacent areas.”

• Vivid Seats highlighted that Betcha’s interface “allows both casual and superfans multiple ways to enjoy the action” in its report.
• “We believe this acquisition can significantly increase our [total addressable market], while allowing for customer acquisition synergies with our high-interest fan base,” Chia said.

Vivid Seats’ marketplace gross order value reached a record $876.5 million during the quarter. Full-year marketplace GOV hit $2.4 billion.

COVID Impacts Continue

Despite setting record revenue, Vivid reported that in the three months ending Dec. 31, 2021, marketplace GOV was negatively impacted due to event cancellations in the amount of $33.3 million. In the same period the year prior, that number was just $18.9 million.

The company expects its fiscal 2022 revenue to reach between $510 million and $550 million.