While MLB has made strides in recent seasons with meaningful growth in interest, several issues remain that need to be addressed in the years to come.
Commissioner Rob Manfred hinted at the possibility of MLB expansion and realignment back in August during the broadcast of the Little League Classic.
Manfred discussed the league’s interest in adding two expansion teams and the opportunities that could come with the move, which he sees as beneficial. Manfred explained that if there is MLB expansion, realignment is likely to be involved as well.
But the need to put out some internal fires, the most pressing of which is the upcoming collective bargaining agreement, has forced the league to put those plans on the back burner for the time being, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN:
Expansion, those sources said, is not imminent — and in fact is unlikely to happen until the early 2030s. Creating a franchise out of nothing takes time, and expansion isn’t MLB’s immediate priority, either — not amid the fallout from the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, the company that owned local television rights to 14 teams, the unsettled status of the Rays’ attempt to build a new stadium and the Oakland A’s attempt to abscond to Las Vegas. Not to mention the new collective bargaining agreement to be negotiated after the current one expires in 2026, too.
The question of expansion seems to be a matter of when, not if. The timing is not right at the moment, but the owners know it is inevitable:
“It hasn’t been much of a topic of conversation,” one owner, who was granted anonymity to speak freely, told ESPN. “Everybody knows what’s going to happen eventually, but it’s so far off that people just haven’t focused on it.”
MLB last expanded in 1998, when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays joined the National League and American League, respectively.
The league’s first expansion occurred in 1961, which saw the Angels and a new Washington Senators franchise join the AL. The new Senators replaced the original team, which had relocated and became the Minnesota Twins.
MLB Expansion could lead to reduced schedule
Whenever the league does expand, it will reportedly result in the end of the current 162-game schedule.
Of all the four major North American sports, MLB plays the largest amount of games by far. The NBA and NHL both have 82-game schedules, while the NFL has 17 games in an 18-week season.
MLB reducing the number of games in the event of an expansion would become necessary for scheduling reasons.
However, there is no indication that there would be a drastic reduction in games, but simply enough to accommodate a 32-team league in the current format. A conservative estimate comes out to 156-game schedule.
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