The Major League Baseball collective bargaining agreement expired last night at midnight, and since players and owners were unable to agree on a new one, the owners are locking out the players.

Since the World Series concluded last month, there isn’t much work to stop, but it still begs the question — why? With all the billions of dollars in revenue and ever burgeoning player salaries, why can’t owners and players simply divvy it up? There should be plenty for everyone.

Players and owners may say it’s not about the money, but, yes it is. Players want more of their ranks, not just the big stars, to be eligible for free agency and arbitration earlier in their career so they can ride the gravy train too. The owners want rules to stop them from making out-of-control deals that they can’t seem to stop themselves from making, like the $130 million, three-year deal pitcher Max Scherzer signed with the New York Mets.

In the end it all boils down to money, and the ones getting stuck will be the fans, who get stuck with rising ticket and concession prices, and games being shunted to ever-more expensive cable channels. Some day, the fans will get tired of being soaked and will find some other form of entertainment.