With less than two months to go before October, Major League Baseball finalized schedule info for the 2025 MLB Postseason on October 12. This year’s road to October will start earlier than usual. However, this time around, we know exactly when the Fall Classic will start.
When do the playoffs start?
The 2025 MLB Postseason will begin on September 30, 2025, with the beginning of the best-of-three Wild Card rounds.
These series pit the division winner with the worst record against the #6 seed in a league, with the top two Wild Card teams facing each other in the other series. The two two division winners from both leagues will receive byes into the Division Series and home-field advantage in that round.
The team with the better record hosts all three games.
Division & Championship Series
The ALDS/NLDS will start on October 4. All four series will start on that date, much like was the case in 2024 when all four Division Series began on October 5.
Division Series are best-of-five rounds, with the team with the better record hosting Game 1, 2, and 5 (if necessary).
The best-of-seven Championship Series will start on October 12 for the American League, and October 13 for the National League.
Much like the other rounds, homefield advantage is decided by regular-season record. The team with the better record hosts Games 1-2, plus Games 6-7 (if necessary). The other team will host Games 3-5.
World Series
The 2025 World Series will begin on October 24, 2025.
Games 1 & 2 will take place on October 24-25, hosted by the team with the better regular season record. Home-field advantage has not been decided by the All-Star Game in years.
Games 3-5 will be held from October 27-29, and will be hosted by the road team from Games 1 & 2. If necessary, Games 6 & 7 will take on October 31 and November 1, respectively.
The start date for the 2025 Fall Classic is fixed. Last year, Major League Baseball planned to move up the start of the series three days if both the ALCS and NLCS ended after five games.
What networks will it be on?
ESPN will be the television provider for the Wild Card Games in the United States. TBS is the English provider for the NLDS and NLCS this year, with TUDN (Univision) getting the games in Spanish. Fox/Fox Deportes will air the ALDS, ALCS, and World Series.
Those who have pay-TV providers can authenticate within the MLB.TV app and watch through it, as well.
In Canada, the entire playoffs will be shown on Sportsnet.
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