The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays are headed to the 2026 World Series, creating opportunities for sports fans to combine baseball with NBA basketball, college football, NFL football and hockey. Here’s how to build a sports road trip around the Fall Classic.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays are headed to the World Series, and for fans planning to attend, the opportunity extends well beyond baseball.
The Brewers will host Games 1 and 2 on Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24, before the series moves to St. Petersburg for Games 3 and 4 on October 26–27, and Game 5 on October 28, if necessary. If the series lasts six or seven games, it will return to Milwaukee on October 30–31.
For traveling sports fans, the schedule creates several opportunities to turn a World Series visit into an extended sports road trip. From an unusual NBA-MLB doubleheader in Milwaukee to Big Ten football in Madison, NFL football in Green Bay and NHL hockey in Tampa, there are plenty of ways to build a memorable sports getaway around the Fall Classic.
Milwaukee: The ultimate Friday doubleheader
Friday, October 23
- 3pm CT: Chicago Bulls at Milwaukee Bucks — Fiserv Forum
- 7pm CT: Tampa Bay Rays at Milwaukee Brewers, World Series Game 1 — American Family Field
Milwaukee sports fans have an extraordinary opportunity on Friday: attend the Bucks’ home opener against the Chicago Bulls in the afternoon, then head across town to watch the Brewers open the World Series.
The Bucks originally scheduled their home opener for 7pm, but moved tipoff to 3pm to accommodate the Brewers’ World Series appearance.
The change makes it possible to attend both games, although fans will need to plan their transportation carefully. Fiserv Forum and American Family Field are approximately five miles apart, and World Series traffic could make the trip more challenging than usual. For more information about getting to the ballpark (especially by bar shuttle!), check out the Local Transit chapter of our ultimate guide to American Family Field.
For fans who can secure tickets to both events, it’s an opportunity to experience two of Milwaukee’s biggest sporting events in a single day.
Milwaukee or Madison: World Series or Big Ten football?
Saturday, October 24
- 6:30pm CT: USC Trojans at Wisconsin Badgers — Camp Randall Stadium, Madison
- 7pm CT: Tampa Bay Rays at Milwaukee Brewers, World Series Game 2 – American Family Field
Sports fans traveling to Wisconsin for the opening weekend of the World Series have another major event to consider: the Wisconsin Badgers will host USC in a Big Ten football matchup on Saturday, October 24.
Unfortunately, the schedules present a direct conflict.
Wisconsin’s game against USC is scheduled to kick off at 6:30pm CT, just 30 minutes before the Brewers host Game 2 of the World Series in Milwaukee, so there’s no realistic opportunity to attend both events.
That leaves fans with a choice: attend Friday’s Bucks–Brewers doubleheader in Milwaukee, then head to Madison on Saturday for Big Ten football, or remain in Milwaukee for the second game of the World Series.
It would be nice if the NCAA would move the football game earlier in the day, but we don’t believe that will happen. Such a change would require coordination among the Big Ten, its television partners, and both teams, but with the game now just days away and no schedule adjustment announced, a late change appears unlikely.
For now, fans planning their Wisconsin sports road trip should assume they’ll have to choose between the Badgers and the Brewers on Saturday night.
Milwaukee: A Sunday sports extension
Sunday, October 25
- Noon CT: Marquette Golden Eagles vs. Michigan State Spartans — Fiserv Forum
- 1pm CT: Milwaukee Admirals vs. Chicago Wolves — UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena
Fans staying in Milwaukee after the first two World Series games have two additional Sunday options.
Marquette hosts Michigan State in a men’s college basketball matchup at Fiserv Forum, while the Milwaukee Admirals face the Chicago Wolves in American Hockey League action at Panther Arena.
Both games are scheduled for the early afternoon, so attending both in full would not be possible. But either offers fans an opportunity to add another sport to their World Series weekend before heading home.
Tampa Bay: World Series baseball and NHL hockey
Monday, October 26 – Thursday, October 29
- Monday, October 26, 8pm ET: World Series Game 3 — Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
- Tuesday, October 27, 8pm ET: World Series Game 4 — Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
- Wednesday, October 28, 8pm ET: World Series Game 5 (if necessary) — Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
- Thursday, October 29, 7pm ET: Winnipeg Jets at Tampa Bay Lightning — Benchmark International Arena
The World Series moves to St. Petersburg on Monday, October 26, giving traveling fans an opportunity to spend several days in the Tampa Bay region.
Unlike Milwaukee, where the biggest doubleheader opportunity falls on the same day, Tampa Bay’s best option is on consecutive nights.
Fans attending Game 4 on Tuesday — or Game 5 on Wednesday, if necessary — can extend their trip through Thursday to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning host the Winnipeg Jets.
The Lightning play in downtown Tampa, while the Rays play across the bay in St. Petersburg, making this a two-city sports itinerary within the same metropolitan area.
For fans traveling from outside Florida, the combination offers an opportunity to experience both Major League Baseball’s championship series and NHL hockey without making a separate trip.
Green Bay and Milwaukee: Three major sporting events in three days?
Thursday, October 29 – Saturday, October 31
- Thursday, October 29, 7:15pm CT: Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers — Lambeau Field
- Friday, October 30, 7pm CT: World Series Game 6 (if necessary) — American Family Field
- Saturday, October 31, 7pm CT: Cleveland Cavaliers at Milwaukee Bucks — Fiserv Forum
- Saturday, October 31, 7pm CT: World Series Game 7 (if necessary) — American Family Field
If the World Series returns to Milwaukee for Games 6 and 7, Wisconsin could offer one of the most compelling sports road trips of the entire fall.
The Green Bay Packers are scheduled to host the Carolina Panthers on Thursday Night Football, October 29, at Lambeau Field. The game kicks off at 7:15pm CT, just one night before a potential Game 6 of the World Series in Milwaukee.
For fans hoping to attend both events, the logistics are relatively straightforward. Lambeau Field is about 120 miles north of Milwaukee, so fans can attend Thursday night’s NFL game and travel south to Milwaukee on Friday for the World Series.
However, finding a hotel room in Green Bay on a Packers game night could be a significant challenge. With accommodations likely to be scarce and expensive, fans may have better luck looking farther south along the route to Milwaukee. Appleton, about 30 miles southwest of Green Bay, is one option, while hotels in Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, or Milwaukee itself could offer more choices. Fans willing to drive after the Thursday night game could position themselves closer to Milwaukee for Friday’s World Series matchup.
And the opportunities don’t end there.
The Milwaukee Bucks are scheduled to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, October 31, creating the possibility of attending NFL football, World Series baseball, and NBA basketball on three consecutive days.
There is one potential complication: If the World Series reaches Game 7, it would be played Saturday evening at American Family Field, directly conflicting with the Bucks–Cavaliers game, currently scheduled for 7pm CT.
However, there is good reason to believe that the NBA would consider moving the Bucks game to an earlier tipoff if Game 7 becomes necessary. The league has already shown it will accommodate the World Series, moving Milwaukee’s October 23 home opener against Chicago from 7pm to 3pm to avoid a conflict with Game 1.
And there would appear to be relatively few scheduling obstacles to making a similar adjustment on October 31. Both the Bucks and Cavaliers are off on Friday, October 30, so an earlier Saturday tipoff wouldn’t create an obvious travel or back-to-back scheduling problem for either team.
Although no change has been announced, an afternoon tipoff would seem a strong possibility if the World Series reaches Game 7. Such a move could create an extraordinary opportunity: Packers football on Thursday, World Series Game 6 on Friday, and a Bucks–Brewers doubleheader on Saturday, with the baseball game determining the World Series champion.
But the beauty of this itinerary is that it doesn’t depend entirely on the World Series going seven games.
If the series ends in six games, fans could still attend the Packers on Thursday, Game 6 on Friday, and the Bucks on Saturday.
And even if the World Series ended in five games or fewer, the Packers and Bucks offer two major professional sporting events that could anchor a Wisconsin road trip. Throw in some Spotted Cow, a few brewery tours, and a jaunt to the National Bobblehead Museum, and you’ve got yourself a fine roadtrip even without baseball.
Planning your World Series sports road trip
The 2026 World Series presents several very different travel opportunities, depending on which games fans hope to attend.
For those seeking a true same-day doubleheader, Friday, October 23 in Milwaukee is the standout option, with the Bucks and Brewers both playing at home.
Fans looking for a longer Wisconsin road trip can combine the World Series with college football in Madison, Sunday sports in Milwaukee, or a Packers game in Green Bay.
And for fans traveling to Florida, the middle of the series offers the chance to combine World Series baseball with NHL hockey in the Tampa Bay region.
The biggest consideration is the uncertainty surrounding the later World Series games. Games 5, 6, and 7 are conditional, so fans should be cautious about making nonrefundable travel arrangements around games that may not happen.
Fortunately, the NBA, NFL, college football, and hockey schedules provide several alternatives that could make a sports road trip worthwhile regardless of how long the World Series lasts.
Fans can explore additional games and build their own itineraries using The Stadium Insiders’ Ultimate Sports Calendar:
