Major League Baseball officially instituted a lockout on Thursday at midnight, making for the sport’s first work stoppage in 26 years.
As a result, the league’s website has made a shocking change to reflect the reality of the situation.
Shortly after the lockout became official, MLB.com removed all of its stories about active players from the site. Other content, such as articles about the 2022 Hall of Fame ballot and other topics that are not related to current players, remained.
Shortly after the MLB lockout, here's the current https://t.co/WqeObZs0GV homepage. Stories about active players have been removed. pic.twitter.com/yyp6ewVTwn
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 2, 2021
That wasn’t the only major change made by MLB.com. On team websites, which are connected to the league’s primary site, player headshots were removed, while those of coaches and other staff members remained.
According to MLB.com executive reporter Marc Feinsand, MLB is using “every effort to not use players’ names, images or likenesses for promotional, advertising or other commercial purposes.”
This obviously makes sense, but even with context the effect is strange. https://t.co/58nlYYR4yy
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 2, 2021
MLB.com explained the reasoning for removing content about current players in a statement posted to the website on Thursday.
“You may notice that the content on this site looks a little different than usual. The reason for this is because the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the players and the league expired just before midnight on Dec. 1 and a new CBA is currently being negotiated between the owners and the MLBPA.
“Until a new agreement is reached, there will be limitations on the type of content we display. As a result, you will see a lot more content that focuses on the game’s rich history. Once a new agreement is reached, the up-to-the minute news and analysis you have come to expect will continue as usual.”
Read a letter from the Commissioner: https://t.co/P4gRGSlfsu pic.twitter.com/zI40uGLTni
— MLB (@MLB) December 2, 2021
Statement from the Major League Baseball Players Association: pic.twitter.com/34uIGf762W
— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) December 2, 2021
MLB.com’s content decision is jarring to say the least and is just one example of the consequences that come with a lockout.
Negotiations between the league and and the player’s association over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement are expected to continue before the 2022 season is set to begin, but it might take some time for both parties to return to the table. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Winter Meetings have been canceled for the major league portion of the proceedings.
That means it could take some time for MLB.com to reinstitute its full coverage of the league.
The post Look: MLB.com Makes A Big Change To Its Website appeared first on The Spun.