In North American professional sports, Major League Baseball plays the longest regular season schedule in terms of number of games.
After holding exhibition contests in spring training to prepare for the new campaign in February and March, MLB spends the next six months playing 162 games — not to crown a champion but to determine its playoff teams. A fall postseason comprising four rounds (wild card, division series, league championship series and World Series) decides the year's top team.
MLB hasn't always played a 162-game regular season. In its nearly 150 years of existence, the league has expanded and shortened its schedule, but its slate of playing nearly every day has always been a test of mental toughness and physical strength.
The Current Length of an MLB Season
The MLB has all 30 of its teams play 162 contests in a balanced schedule that comprises 52 intradivision games (13 each against four division opponents), 64 intraleague games (six against six league opponents and seven against four league opponents) and 46 interleague games (against natural rivals by geography).
For the most part, the schedule format was instituted in 2023 to have clubs play each other for at least one series. It also created "more consistent opponent matchups" for postseason berths, according to MLB chief operations and strategy officer Chris Marinak.
"Additionally, this fan-friendly format provides fans with the opportunity to see more opponent matchups, with a particular focus on dramatically expanding our most exciting interleague matchups," Marinak added, "and offers more national exposure to the star players throughout our game."
The History of MLB Season Length
The number of regular-season games fluctuated greatly in the first 44 years of MLB's existence.
In 1876 (MLB's first recognized season), an eight-team National League played a 70-game regular season. After losing two clubs, the NL played a 60-game slate the next two years, but when it returned to eight teams in 1879, the schedule gradually increased from 84 games to 140 games.
In 1892, the first 154-game season was introduced when the NL grew to 12 teams. In 1900, the NL dropped to eight clubs and 140 contests. In 1901, a junior circuit previously known as the Western League got major league recognition as the American League.
The AL and NL played 140 games until 1904 when both leagues switched to 154 games. For the next 56 years, the 154-game slate remained the regular-season standard, except for a 140-game one-off in 1919 when players were still returning from military duty in World War I.
The AL schedule increased to162 games in 1961 when the league grew to 18 teams with two expansion franchises—Los Angeles Angels and Washington Senators. The NL added eight games to its regular season in 1962 when it welcomed the Houston Colt .45s (later changed to Astros) and New York Mets.
Increased revenue was the primary reason for team owners to make the regular season longer. In 1946, New York Yankees president Larry MacPhail even advocated for a 168-game schedule, but Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey convinced owners to keep the status quo to add another chapter to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.
Deviations from the Standard Schedule
Since adopting a 162-game schedule, MLB has fallen short of its regular-season maximum due to campaigns shortened by labor disputes and a pandemic.
The 1981 season was interrupted by a 50-day players strike that left teams playing between 102 games and 111 games. The 1994 strike erased the rest of the season with clubs playing between 112 and 117 games. That also meant the cancellation of the playoffs and World Series. Baseball paid a heavy price for its last spat between millionaire players and billionaire owners.
When baseball returned after an eight-month standoff in April 1995, interest in Opening Day was tepid at best. The public's displeasure was palpable at the ballpark. "[Players] recognized how much damage had been done to the game,” ESPN's Tim Kurkjian said.
In 2020, COVID-19 delayed the start of the season until July. Rather than attempt to make up as many games as possible, MLB chose to have teams compete in a two-month, 60-game sprint to the playoffs.
Why MLB Has a 162-Game Season
Despite the popular internet talking point that baseball is dying, the naive notion couldn't be further from the truth. According to Forbes, MLB enjoyed record revenues of $12.1 billion in 2024 thanks to increased popularity and business growth.
The windfall that comes with attendance trending upward—namely fan expenditures as part of the ballpark experience—is one of the biggest reasons why owners settled on a 162-game season. Also, MLB capitalizes on the summer months when the NFL, NBA and NHL are dormant during the offseason.
Is the MLB season too long? Some interesting research supports a reduction of games, including the proposal of a 100-game schedule by a sabermetrics pioneer.
However, there are players who take pride in participating in all 162 games. The accomplishment is so rare that the ones who are successful (and lucky enough to avoid serious injury) view it as a badge of honor.
"Until I'm told to sit down, I will fight you until you literally don't put me in the lineup card," said Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, a two-time member of the 162-game club. "But that's just how I view life in general. That's my job. I'm gonna do it."
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Many Games Are in an MLB Season? History, Deviations and More.