The middle of the Major League Baseball playoffs should get us excited about spring training in 2027, which is four months away. But who’s counting?
The constant reminders of a looming lockout will put a damper on that excitement. If we see one more “Level the Playing Field” commercial, we might forget all about pitchers and catchers reporting.
Odds are that spring training games in 2027 will be lost or sacrificed during this labor standoff. Service workers who staff concession stands and retirees who work as ushers will feel the brunt of the lost revenue more than players or owners.
But we digress. What about the fans making their annual pilgrimage to spring training? How should they plan for February and March while players and owners fire shots across the bow in December and January? Will there be any spring training at all?
As spring training season-ticket holders for more than a decade, we have a few strategies to help you navigate the stress of planning a spring training trip.
How do you know how to handle this?
First, I’ve been in the sports media business for more than 40 years, and I’ve seen how MLB and its players handle lockouts.
The last two — in 1990 and 2022 — didn’t cancel spring training entirely, but the first few weeks of spring training were canceled. During the 2022 lockout, I held spring training season tickets for the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants.
When is spring training in 2027?
Pitchers and catchers should report about Feb. 10, with the first games set for Feb. 19. The last day of spring training games is set for March 23.
Can they cancel spring training completely?
No, but they can shorten it.
Pitchers still have to get their arms in shape. Free agents still have to be signed. And position battles need to be fought. That normally takes six weeks, but the last two lockouts compressed the schedule to three weeks.
MLB used a similar formula during the COVID-19 Summer Camp in 2020, holding a three-week exhibition season before the regular season opened July 24.
Should I bother planning a trip?
Yes. If your time off is already scheduled, take advantage of the published spring training schedule. At the very least, whether you’re headed to the Cactus League or the Grapefruit League, you can map out travel between ballparks and identify sights you might want to see when games are played.
If spring training games are delayed or the schedule is shortened in 2027, MLB will likely roll out a similar schedule for a shorter spring training. MLB might even use the same schedule with the first few weeks cut off.
What about accommodations? Should I book a place to stay?
Yes, but keep a few things in mind. If you stay in a hotel, make sure it’s part of a chain that will refund your money or waive cancellation fees if you cancel as late as two weeks before your trip.
If you’re staying at a vacation rental through Vrbo or Airbnb, you’re probably a little late to find a good deal. But the deal-breaker is a property that offers free cancellation within a week or two of your trip. Those options are easy enough to find when searching for a place to stay, but this is important. It don’t want to be stuck paying for unused nights.
Pro tip: If you don’t book a spring training house or hotel 10 to 12 months before your trip, you’re missing out on the best deals.
Should I still buy tickets?
Yes and no. Single-game tickets have yet to go on sale and probably won’t if a lockout begins in December. Don’t buy single-game tickets on the secondary market just yet.
If you’re a season-ticket holder, go ahead and put down the money. Why? As we learned during the 2022 lockout, teams will credit your account for games lost during a shortened spring training. And as we discovered during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, teams will offer separate tickets through your account if games fall outside the usual spring training schedule.
The good news: It’s as if your entire season were wiped out by a rainout, and your account gets credited.
The bad news: The team earns interest on the money sitting in your ticket account.
What if I’ve already bought tickets on the secondary market?
Outlets such as StubHub will refund the entire purchase, and the seller won’t get paid. That policy changed after spring training was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when so many games were canceled that secondary-market outlets had to charge sellers for buyer refunds because sellers had been paid before the games were played.
Any other advice?
If you’ve got the money to be a spring training season-ticket holder, be ready for games to be rescheduled at a moment’s notice. And if you’re used to selling that inventory, know that 2027 isn’t the year you’re going to make money on those spring training tickets.
Besides, there might be some solace in seeing your invoice for 2028 games and knowing you have enough credit in your account to cover half — if not the entire bill.
Bill Bradley is sports editor at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He has held Cubs spring training season tickets since 2014, when Sloan Park opened, and Giants spring training season tickets since 2015.
