The proposed “bubble” playoff format that was floated over the weekend has been approved by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association, The Washington Post reports.
As such, the MLB playoffs and the World Series, which is slated to start on October 20, will be held at neutral sites for the first time in league history.
With 16 teams making the MLB playoffs this season, the eight best-of-three opening-round series will be played at the home stadiums of the better-seeded team.
From there, the remaining eight teams will move into bubbles in California and Texas with the two American League Division Series being played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Petco Park in San Diego and the NLDS games being played at Houston’s Minute Maid Park and Arlington’s Globe Life Field.
The bubble will then shrink to San Diego and Arlington for the penultimate round of the playoffs with the World Series being played exclusively in Arlington.
MLB’s format will require players on contending teams to begin quarantining at hotels — even while playing at home — over the final week of the regular season, a person familiar with the agreement told The Post.
Though no fans have attended any MLB games this season due to concerns about the coronavirus, commissioner Rob Manfred said he is hopeful that may change during the playoffs, according to Sportico.
“I’m hopeful that the World Series and the LCS we will have limited fan capacity,” Manfred said. “I think it’s important for us to start back down [that] road. Obviously, it’ll be limited numbers, socially distanced, protection provided for the fans in terms of temperature checks and the like. Kind of the pods like you saw in some of the NFL games. We’ll probably use that same theory.”
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