It’s a potential curveball against an industry that’s already had some hard hits.
“There is frustration,” said John Bickelman, owner of Gold Glove Sports Tours in Schuylkill Haven.
“It was shut down for all of 2020 and half of 2021,” Bickelman said of sports travel. “This upcoming baseball season is gonna be the first regular, in quotes, baseball season that we’ve had in two years, but it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen either because of the lockout.”
Bickelman is keeping a close eye on the ongoing baseball talks related to the current Major Baseball League lockout.
With spring training games already canceled into March, there’s concern in the sports travel business that the regular season might be impacted, too.
“If they don’t get something done this week, I guess it’s gonna impact the first week or two weeks of the season,” Bickelman said.
Even if a partial season comes to bat, the look of the current discussions could still hurt business.
“Especially after going through what’ve been through the last two years,” Bickelman said, “it could hurt. It could hurt sports travel. People will just throw up their arms and say, ‘I’m not interested anymore.'”
Some good news locally, though, as the lockout will not have any impact on minor league action – and the Fightin Phils.
“We will be good to start on Friday April 8th,” said Emily Messina, with the Reading Fightin Phils. “The Somerset Patriots, the Yankees affiliates, are coming to town, so it’s gonna be a great weekend. So no matter what happens with the major leagues, we will be ready to go here in Reading.”
