The wild card was introduced to Major League Baseball playoffs in 1995 in an effort to add more teams and games to the postseason while still maintaining the traditional division winner format. Originally there was just one wild card team from each league that would play a single-game playoff to determine who would meet one of the division winners in the next round.
In 2012, MLB expanded the wild card format to include two teams from each league. This was done to both add more excitement with an extra layer of playoff games while also attempting to satisfy more fan bases by giving an additional city a chance at postseason baseball each year. Under the current system, the two wild card teams in each league face off in a newly created Wild Card Round that consists of a best-of-three series to determine who advances.
The top two division winners in each league receive byes directly to the Division Series round. In the American League, this means the East and West division champions avoid the single-elimination Wild Card Round. In the National League, the East and Central division winners receive byes. This geographical split was instituted when MLB re-aligned their divisions prior to the 2013 season.
At the conclusion of the 162-game regular season, the team with the best record in each division, by definition, is guaranteed to win that division and qualify for the postseason. The other teams in those four divisions, along with the other teams in the non-division winning leagues, are still battling for the wild card spots.
In each league, the three teams that did not win their respective divisions are considered for the two wild card slots. The team with the best record among the non-division winners automatically claims one of the wild card spots. If two teams are tied for the best non-division winning record, standard MLB tiebreaker rules are used to determine possession of that top wild card spot.
The other wild card spot goes to whichever non-division winner can claim the second-best record when compared to the other also-ran clubs. So in essence, whichever two teams playing outside of the divisions can boast having the absolute two best overall records, regardless of what division they play in, are awarded the league’s wild card slots.
Once the regular season concludes and the four division winners and two wild card teams per league are determined, the one-game Wild Card Round commences. In a new twist, MLB decided prior to the 2022 season that the top wild card team would host the second wild card club for their best-of-three series, thereby giving a slight advantage to the club with the stronger regular season record.
Historically, many have argued that a one-game wild card playoff was too high-pressure and subjected a team’s season to just one game of outcomes after a six-month regular season. Expanding it to a best-of-three format helped address those concerns by allowing the wild card teams to feel as if they have more control over their postseason fate rather than placing so much emphasis on a single game.
Not only does the wild card round create dramatic new games and exciting new matchups for fans to enjoy, it also has indirect financial and competitive benefits for MLB as a business. Cities and fanbases who may have been frustrated at their team missing the playoffs by a few games can still have postseason baseball to watch locally thanks to the wild card slots.
With the addition of more October games plus the promise of wild and unpredictable one-game and series-clinching scenarios in the wild card round, interest levels are higher. More interest translates to increased gate and ticket sales, along with TV viewership, sponsorship and merchandise value opportunities for all involved franchises and the league itself. Financially, the expansion and re-formatting of MLB’s wild card playoff structure has largely been viewed as a success.
Competitively, the wild card round gives more teams and cities a realistic chance to make a postseason run and avoid going home after 162 games. It creates new rivals and grudge matches, exciting beginnings and dramatic finishes that can spark interest for the rest of October. While not quite to the level of March Madness or other single-elimination tournaments, it does add a new do-or-die element to the early stages of MLB’s playoffs.
The current two wild card per league, three-game series format seems to have found a nice compromise between maintaining the divisional structure with byes for the top seeds while also extending the potential playoff field to reward more regular season success. It makes for must-see early action in October and allows situations where a Wild Card winner can ride momentum on a hot streak, upsetting division winners to reach later rounds. And after nearly a decade, the system remains popular with both fans and the sport’s business decision-makers as well.
In the future, some have proposed expanding to three wild cards or perhaps re-seeding teams after the Wild Card Round based on regular season record instead of sticking to an ALDS/NLDS bracket. But for now, the two wild card teams create just enough drama, excitement and reward for both deserving clubs and the league as a whole. As long as competitive balance and fan interest remain strong, Major League Baseball seems content with their current wild card playoff format.
