Major League Baseball has released its 2026 playoff schedule, giving fans at least part of the puzzle they might need to book postseason travel.
The playoffs will start with the Wild Card games on Tuesday, September 29, and will end somewhere between October 27-31, depending on how many games are played in the World Series.
The Wild Card round
All four wild card games will be played over the same three days, and the higher seed in each matchup will host all of the games.
The Divisional Series
Regardless of whether the Wild Card series go two or three games, the Divisional Series will begin on Saturday, October 3, with both the AL and NL playing that day. The NL will then play games on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, while the AL will play on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. This is a best-of-five-game series, with a format of H/H/A/A/H.
The Championship Series
Regardless of how long the Divisional Series last, the Championship Series for the NL will begin on Sunday, October 11, and for the AL on Monday, October 12. The NL will conclude no later than Monday, October 19, and the AL will conclude no later than Tuesday, October 20. This is a best-of-seven game series, with a format of H/H/A/A/A/H/H.
The World Series
The World Series will begin on Friday, October 23, and will conclude no later than Saturday, October 31. Which means, yes, Game 7 could be on Halloween. This is a best-of-seven-game series, with a format of H/H/A/A/A/H/H.
Next steps for traveling
Of course, all of this information is only so helpful without knowing the final standings, which will dictate which team is playing where and when.
So, really, the only thing to do right now is to pencil some of these dates into your calendar if you think your team is going to be playing, and watch the standings to see if more concrete seeding info becomes available early.
