Every Major League Baseball team plays 162 regular-season games per year, adding up to a staggering 2,430 total games across the league. Spanning roughly six months from late March to late September, this marathon schedule is the longest in professional team sports.
Beyond the regular season, the modern MLB postseason adds up to four additional rounds of high-stakes baseball, pushing successful teams into late October. Understanding how this schedule works requires looking at division formats, interleague play, and the structure of the playoffs.
How the 162-Game Regular Schedule Breaks Down
The 30 Major League Baseball teams are split evenly between the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), with 15 teams in each. Each team plays an identical 162-game blueprint designed to balance regional rivalries with equal competition across the sport.
- Divisional Games (52 total): Teams play 13 games against each of their four division rivals. This keeps traditional rivalries sharp without letting teams in weak divisions completely dominate the standings.
- Intraleague Games (64 total): Teams play six games against six opponents from their own league outside their division, and seven games against the remaining four teams.
- Interleague Games (46 total): Every team plays a 6-game home-and-home series against a natural designated rival, plus single series against the other 14 teams from the opposite league.
This universal schedule format ensures that every fan base gets to see every team and star player visit their home ballpark at least once every two seasons.
Why Does MLB Play 162 Games?
The 162-game schedule isn't random. It has been the standard in the American League since 1961 and the National League since 1962, when expansion added two teams and bumped the schedule up from the historic 154-game limit.
Baseball relies on a large sample size more than almost any other sport. Because individual performance in baseball involves high variance—even the best hitters fail seven out of ten times—a short season would allow luck to dictate the standings. Over 162 games, slumps even out, injuries test organizational depth, and the truly elite teams rise to the top.
Financially, the massive volume of games generates steady daily revenue through ticket sales, stadium concessions, and local and national television broadcasts.
The Modern MLB Playoff Format and Length
Once the regular season concludes, the top teams advance to the MLB postseason. The current playoff format features 12 teams total—six from the American League and six from the National League.
- Wild Card Series: The lowest-seeded division winner and three wild-card teams in each league face off in a best-of-three series. The top two division winners receive a first-round bye.
- Division Series (ALDS / NLDS): The winners of the Wild Card round advance to play the top two seeds in a best-of-five series.
- League Championship Series (ALCS / NLCS): The surviving teams play a best-of-seven series to determine the pennant winners for each league.
- World Series: The American League champion and National League champion square off in a best-of-seven series to crown the ultimate champion.
Depending on how many games a team needs to close out each series, a club reaching the World Series will play anywhere from 11 to 14 postseason games.
Historical Disruptions to the 162-Game Season
While 162 games is the baseline, several historical events have shortened individual seasons. Labor strikes impacted play in 1972, 1981, and a major work stoppage cut the 1994 season short and canceled the World Series entirely. More recently, the global pandemic forced a truncated 60-game season in 2020. Aside from these exceptions, the 162-game standard has remained remarkably resilient for over six decades. You can explore historical team stats and standings directly on Baseball Reference.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all MLB teams always finish their 162 games?
Not always. If a regular-season game canceled late in September has no bearing on the postseason race or playoff seeding, Major League Baseball often chooses not to make it up, meaning some teams finish with 161 games.
Has any player appeared in all 162 games in a single season?
Yes, though it's becoming increasingly rare as modern teams prioritize player rest and load management. In recent years, only a handful of ironman players manage to suit up for every single contest.
How many home games does each MLB team play?
Because the schedule is split evenly to maintain competitive fairness, every team plays 81 home games and 81 away games during a standard 162-game season.
Is MLB considering shortening the season?
While media analysts and some executives occasionally debate shortening the schedule to reduce injury risks, both the league owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association strongly support keeping 162 games due to revenue structures and historic record-keeping. Learn more about player representation through the MLB Players Association.
