MLB Sets Earliest Opening Day for March 24 on Netflix
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- MLB announced its 2027 season will open March 24 — the earliest Opening Day on record — with a single game televised by Netflix, while 14 other teams also play that day.
- The schedule hinges on a new labor agreement; the current contract expires Dec. 1 and a management lockout is expected, recalling 2022 when a deal wasn't reached until March 10 and Opening Day slipped from March 31 to April 7.
- Wrigley Field in Chicago will host the All-Star Game on July 13, followed by a rivalry weekend.
- The Athletics will play most home games in West Sacramento, California, for a third straight season, then host a homestand at the Triple-A ballpark in Las Vegas starting May 31 against San Diego and Cincinnati.
- No international games are scheduled for 2027 because there is no labor contract in place.
Why it matters: With the labor contract expiring Dec. 1 and a lockout expected, every piece of the 2027 schedule — Netflix's opener, the Wrigley All-Star Game, and the Athletics' Las Vegas homestand — sits behind the same barrier that delayed 2022's Opening Day by a full week.