This post is prompted by two things.
First, the fact that MLB’s 2026 regular season will begin March 26. That’s too early, in my view, especially since the Cubs have to play in Chicago that day and for five more days before they hit the road.
The second thing is this recent quote from Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr:
Kerr thinks the NBA should reduce its regular season schedule from 82 to 72 games:
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has renewed his call for the NBA to reduce its regular season from 82 to 72 games, citing mounting injuries and the physical toll of the modern pace-and-space style. His comments followed the Warriors’ loss to the Utah Jazz and a season marked by absences for key players, including Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. The proposal faces resistance from Commissioner Adam Silver and team owners due to revenue concerns, keeping the debate unresolved.
Kerr isn’t wrong here. Injuries are a big concern in basketball — and in baseball too. The NBA has had an 82-game schedule for nearly 60 years, since the 1967-68 season.
Major League Baseball has had a 162-game schedule longer than that. The American League expanded its schedule from 154 to 162 games in 1961 and the National League in 1962, to make their schedules match the two expansion teams added to each league. In the previous eight-team leagues, teams played 22 games against the seven others for 154. In the 10-team leagues after expansion, teams played 18 games against each of the other nine clubs. That 154-game schedule, incidentally, had also been in place for decades, first used in 1904.
Here’s what I think. If you were creating something called “Major League Baseball” from scratch in the year 2026, there is absolutely no way you’d make a 162-game schedule. A better number would probably be 140, and the schedule could start in mid-April and end in late September, hopefully eliminating a lot of the early-season bad weather we now see.
The thing about reducing MLB’s schedule now is revenue. Obviously teams don’t want to lose home dates, because they would lose ticket revenue. TV partners would probably want rebates on rights fees, and those teams without rights fees that are now streaming games would probably have lower revenue from their streaming apps.
But I really do think MLB ought to take at least eight games off the schedule, and 10 would be better. And this is regardless of whether the league expands or not, and they likely will do so. This could actually be done as soon as next year as part of labor negotiations.
Of course, if teams have lower revenue from fewer games, they are going to want players to take commensurate pay cuts. A 10-game schedule reduction is six percent of the 162 games currently played. Could owners convince players to take a six percent pay cut as a result? (Probably not, but you know the question would be asked.)
Let’s say owners and players did agree on a 152-game schedule, which would reduce each team’s home dates from 81 to 76. What would be a good way of splitting that up?
You know from many of my previous articles on this topic that I think divisional play is the bread-and-butter of baseball. It’s a regional sport, despite Commissioner Rob Manfred’s attempts to nationalize everything.
Here’s one way to make a 152-game schedule, using the current divisional structure. In this scenario, teams wouldn’t play every team in the other league every year, but they would still play most of those teams.
15 games vs. everyone in your own division (60)
6 games vs. everyone else in your league (60)
3 games vs. every team in two divisions of the other league (30)
2 extra interleague games vs. your designated rival (2)
So in this scenario, the Cubs and White Sox would play at least twice every year, and five times a year when the Cubs are scheduled to play the AL Central. Every team would play 25 of the other 29 teams every year.
You probably have your own ideas on how to reduce the schedule and how it would work, so let’s hear them. One thing is for sure: 162 games is too many, and starting the season in northern cities in March is a bad idea.
