{"id":265,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/265","headline":"MLB proposes 154-game season and best-of-seven Division Series","dek":"The league also wants to let higher playoff seeds pick their opponents in the first two postseason rounds.","body":"MLB owners have put a shortened regular season on the table in labor talks with the players' union, proposing a cut from 162 games to 154 starting in 2029. It would mark a return to a schedule length not used in the American League since 1960 or the National League since 1961, though this time with interleague play, which didn't exist back then.\n\nAlongside the shorter schedule, owners are pushing to expand the Division Series from best-of-five to best-of-seven, while leaving the other playoff rounds at their current lengths. The proposal also includes a twist: higher-seeded teams in the first two rounds of the postseason would get to select their opponents rather than simply facing the team assigned by standard bracket seeding.\n\nThe changes arrive as part of a broader push by ownership, which has also sought a hard salary cap, an overhauled reserve system, and a reworked path for amateur players entering MLB. Together, the proposals represent one of the largest potential shifts to the annual MLB calendar in more than 65 years.\n\nThe players' union has not yet responded publicly to the specific scheduling and playoff proposals as labor talks continue.","published_at":"2026-10-08T19:17:55.251375+00:00","source_count":8,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Front Office Sports","publisher":"Front Office Sports","title":"MLB Owners Pitch 154-Game Season, Expanded Playoffs in Labor Talks","url":"https://frontofficesports.com/article/mlb-owners-propose-shorter-season-expanded-playoffs/"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"MLB eyes shorter regular season, expanding Division Series to best-of-7","url":"https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/50134346/mlb-proposes-shorter-regular-season-best-7-division-series"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"MLB proposes 154-game regular season, playoff opponent selection","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7670134/2026/10/08/mlb-labor-proposal-regular-season-playoff-changes/"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"MLB proposes 154-game regular season, bulked-up playoff schedule with a twist in latest labor talks","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-proposes-154-game-regular-season-bulked-up-playoff-schedule/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"MLB proposes returning to 154-game regular season, adopting best-of-seven Division Series and opponent selection in playoffs","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/breaking-news/article/mlb-proposes-returning-to-154-game-regular-season-adopting-best-of-seven-division-series-and-opponent-selection-in-playoffs-174105349.html"},{"outlet":"MLB.com","publisher":"MLB.com","title":"MLB proposes 154-game schedule, new playoff features","url":"https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-mlbpa-proposal-154-game-schedule-new-playoff-structure"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"MLB proposes shortening regular season to 154 games in 2029, expanding Division Series to best-of-7","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mlb-proposes-shortening-regular-season-175049792.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"MLB proposes 154-game season, longer playoffs beginning in 2029","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mlb-proposes-154-game-season-184023361.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"MLB proposes shortening season, reforming playoffs","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mlb-proposes-shortening-season-reforming-184039714.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"MLB proposes shortening regular season to 154 games in 2029, expanding Division Series to best-of-7","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mlb-proposes-shortening-regular-season-190041917.html"},{"outlet":"Fox Sports","publisher":"Fox Sports","title":"MLB Proposes Shorter Season, Higher-Seed Teams To Pick Playoff Opponents","url":"https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/mlb-proposes-shortening-regular-season-to-154-games-in-2029-expanding-division-series-to-bestof7"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"MLB proposes reduced schedule, new playoff format","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mlb-proposes-reduced-schedule-playoff-194609101.html"},{"outlet":"Awful Announcing","publisher":"Awful Announcing","title":"MLB’s proposed 154-game season would carve out new Monday TV window","url":"https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/154-game-season-proposal-exclusive-monday-tv-window.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"MLB’s proposed 154-game season would carve out new Monday TV window","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mlb-proposed-154-game-season-214540316.html"}],"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}