Major League Baseball announced the allotment of 2018 postseason shares, with the total pool surpassing $88 million. The amount is up from $84 million in 2017 and $76 million in 2016 — both record-highs at the time.
The pool is composed of 50 percent Wild-Card gate receipts, 60 percent of receipts for the first three games of the Division Series, 60 percent of receipts from the first four games of the Championship Series and another 60 percent of gate receipts from the first four games of the World Series.
As World Series runner-ups for a second consecutive year, the Los Angeles Dodgers earned $21,165,272.04 — good for 24 percent of the record-breaking players’ pool. The Boston Red Sox, who won the Fall Classic in five games, netted 36 percent of the pool. Individual shares for both clubs were worth $262,027.49 and $416,837.72, respectively.
The Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers received 12 percent for participating in the American League and National League Championship Series. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies and New York Yankees took home 3.25 percent for appearing in the Division Series.
The Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics, who fell short in the Wild Card Games, each brought in 1.5 percent of the players’ pool. Clubs are permitted to vote on the distribution of their shares.
The Dodgers split their money into 67 full shares, 10.025 partial shares and eight cash awards. In 2017, the club earned just over $20 million for advancing to the World Series. It was a record-high at the time before Los Angeles shattered that mark in 2018.
