For the first time, the World Series schedule could move up a few days in the event the League Championship Series finish early.
Major League Baseball announced Thursday that the World Series is set to begin on Friday, October 25, with a possible move-up date of Tuesday, October 22 in the event both League Championship Series end in five or fewer games. This year marks the first time that MLB has set a potential move-up date for the Fall Classic. [Related: MLB TV schedule.]
The World Series began on a Tuesday from 2014 through 2021 before shifting to a Friday start in 2022. With a Friday start, a full seven-game World Series would include four games combined on Fridays and Saturdays, the two least-watched nights of the week — including Games 6 and 7. A Tuesday start includes just a combined two games on those nights.
A Friday start would also push a potential Game 6 and 7 to the first two days of November, while a Tuesday start would guarantee that the Fall Classic ends in October.
Last year, both League Championship Series went the full seven games. Go back two years, however, and neither series went past Game 5 — leaving a five-day layoff between the end of the LCS on October 23 and the start of the World Series on October 28.
The World Series joins the Stanley Cup Final in setting a potential move-up date. With the exception of the COVID-delayed years of 2020 and 2021, the NBA Finals has not had a move-up date since 2011. As a result, this past year’s Finals began a full week after the conference finals ended.
The rest of the MLB Postseason schedule is unchanged from recent years, with the Wild Card Series set to run from Tuesday, October 1 through Thursday, October 3 on the ESPN networks; the Division Series set for Saturday, October 5 through the following Saturday; and the League Championship Series set for Sunday, October 13 through Tuesday, October 22.
