Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) jointly announced today that the 2020 Postseason will expand to 16 teams, beginning with eight best-of-three Wild Card Series preceding the Division Series. All of the new Postseason games will be exclusively televised by ESPN and TBS. Major League Clubs unanimously approved the expansion of the Postseason via conference call this afternoon, and the Major League Players also have approved the new system.

Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. said: “We are excited to announce the expansion of the 2020 Postseason. This season will be a sprint to a new format that will allow more fans to experience playoff baseball. We look forward to a memorable Postseason concluding a year like no other and appreciate the continued partnership and enthusiasm of ESPN and TBS.” 

Tony Clark, the Executive Director of the MLBPA, said: “The opportunity to add playoff games in this already-abbreviated season makes sense for fans, the league and Players. We hope it will result in highly competitive pennant races as well as exciting additional playoff games to the benefit of the industry and all involved heading into next year.”

The higher seeds in the Wild Card Series will host all three games, which will be scheduled for Tuesday, September 29th through Friday, October 2nd. The entire 2020 Postseason schedule will be announced in the weeks ahead.