How Many Games In A Baseball Season? Things You Should Know

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Baseball Basics

How Many Games in a Baseball Season? Things You Should Know

Written by

A. Coatess

FACT-CHECKED BY

Sean Hunter

February 2, 2025 Baseball Basics

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Baseball perhaps has one of the longest seasons among sports. And the most popular reason for this is the number of games. As expected, the number of games in a season has a direct correlative effect to the length of the season.

To know how many games in a baseball season, we will have to look into its history, traditions, standards, and many other trivia. Knowing the number of games in a baseball season will surely set your expectations when watching competitions.

Contents

Number of Games in a Baseball Season
Why Does Baseball Have Many Games in a Season
How Many Months Are in a Baseball Season
How Many Games at the Start of the National League
Which Year Saw the Next Increase in the Number of Games
What is the Current MLB Schedule
Conclusion

Number of Games in a Baseball Season

An MLB (major league baseball) season sees a total of one-hundred sixty-two (162) games. Also referred to as the regular season, this period commences in April or late March through October.

Note that the game count above does not cover the rest of the games in the World Series play-offs or training pre or post-regular season. The nature of the games played outside the regular season is longer than expected and does not necessarily follow a time frame.

Why Does Baseball Have Many Games in a Season

The number of games in a baseball season sufficiently covers the complex task of differentiating teams from each other.

Before baseball transitioned into its professionalized state, it saw individual matches between “gentlemen’s clubs.” However, simultaneous with the founding of the National League in 1876, baseball experts realized that the matches were not apt for determining the best team within a period.

To address the issue, the same National League experts came up with the series.

The series focuses on having several successive games played by the same two opposing teams within days. Thus, it would be safe to presume at this point that the introduction of the series gave birth to a lot of games per season– a phenomenon we experience in baseball to this day.

Team managers found the practice of many games in MLB season to be economically favorable as they could lessen the amount of traveling between matches.

In addition to the points mentioned above relating to regular season baseball games, we need to analyze three major areas: fans’ convenience, physical freedom, and a bigger contest sample required.

The large number of games makes viewing easy for the fans. Missing a game or two doesn’t affect fans’ engagement, as the winner of the league cannot be decided by a match alone.

Moreover, unlike other sports, baseball is not too physically demanding. Yes. It can expose players to the risk of injuries, but it should not be as exhausting as sports that require athletes to move constantly, so game extensions are not necessarily a problem.

Lastly, baseball players will have ups and downs in terms of performances. To determine the better (or more consistent teams), more contests are to be administered.

How Many Months Are in a Baseball Season

A regular or MLB (major league baseball) lasts for six (6) months. Although approximated, this period has proven to cover a total of 2,430 games.

The total number of games can be dissected based on the given one-hundred sixty-two games to be played by thirty teams involved (both from National and American Leagues).

How Many Games at the Start of the National League

Baseball became a professionalized enterprise during the establishment of the National League. During this time, baseball events saw only a total of seventy (70) games in every season, only to double into a total of one-hundred-forty (140) by 1901 with the addition of the American League. You can check now our post for more about how long baseball games last.

Teams have since been playing in the two leagues.

Which Year Saw the Next Increase in the Number of Games

1920 saw the introduction of the all-new one-hundred fifty-four games per season. From then, the number of games remained unchanged until 1961, when it was reconfigured into today’s one-hundred sixty-two game placement.

What is the Current MLB Schedule

In 2020, a year that saw very minimal cash flow given the looming pandemic, the announcement of the Major League Baseball 2021 season came very early.

It is perhaps the earliest schedule ever announced in baseball history because even before the first game of the 2020 regular season, the schedule for the following year was already released.

For 2021:

Start of the regular season: April 1
End of the regular season: October 3
Start of the postseason: October 5
Start of world series: October 26
End of world series: November 2

For 2022:

Expected start of the regular season: March 31

Announcement on the 2022 MLB regular season was posted on August 5, 2021.

Conclusion

Baseball is indeed one of the rare sports that takes an extended season to complete. And it has all the right reasons to be so. Currently, it takes a total of one-hundred sixty-two games to end a season, requiring approximately six months.

Knowing how many games in a baseball season requires tracing its historical roots, assessment standards, and other factors.

Andrew Coatess

A powerful swing and the ball is flying across the field, just one hit, and we might never forget the thrill it brings. I do not know about you, but I never do. Every baseball game is the chance to compete with others and cooperate with your teammate. It is among my biggest passions.