The Major League Baseball season is the longest season in professional sports, with teams playing for approximately half the year before determining which ones advance to the postseason and play in the World Series. And the 2026 season will feature a ton of those games in primetime and on national television, airing and streaming on NBC and Peacock all season-long.

How to Watch

Watch MLB on NBC and streaming on Peacock.

Yes, the MLB is back on NBC and Peacock this season, with games airing as part of Sunday Night Baseball, as well as MLB Sunday Leadoff, featuring some of the biggest games each week to start and wrap-up the Sunday slate.

But exactly how long is the MLB season, and how has it changed over the years? Let’s dig in.

How many games are in the 2026 MLB Season?

The Major League Baseball regular season consists of 162 regular season games, which are played from March-September.

That schedule includes 52 intradivision games, 64 intraleague games and 46 interleague games. The design is meant to allow competitive balance, while also ensuring the schedules don’t get stale for fans (since this allows teams to see a wider variety of opponents and series).

Of course, those regular season games come after more than a month of spring training games, designed to get players conditioned and into game shape before the grueling regular season gets started.

RELATED: Full 2026 Schedule for MLB on NBC & Peacock: Sunday Night Baseball & Sunday Leadoff

But those 162 regular season games are just the regular season, with the MLB postseason consisting of four additional rounds that play out in the fall. There’s the Wild Card Round, Division Series, League Championship Series and finally the World Series — which features the two teams (the top American League team vs. the best of the National League) that make it all the way to the end.

The MLB’s lengthy regular season makes for plenty of excitement for fans, as coaches and teams have ample time to get hot and back into the hunt for a postseason spot, even after a sluggish or slow start. Nothing is ever decided until the end, and with so many games, potential injuries can drastically change a team’s fortunes as the season rolls along. 

How many games did the MLB play in the past? Changes over the years, explained

Though MLB teams play 162 games now, the season used to be a whole lot shorter when the league got started more than a century ago. In the late 1800s, the schedules varied from around 70 games to 84 games, then varied from around 140 to 156 in the early-to-mid 1900s.

RELATED: Stream MLB Games Live on Peacock Right Here All Season Long

Outside factors like strikes and the pandemic have also caused some changes to the MLB schedule, with the strike in 1981 resulting in a regular season of around 102-111 games for most teams, and the 1994 strike led to a season of around 112-117 games. That 1994 season also saw the playoffs and World Series cancelled. More recently, the 2020 season during the COVID-19 pandemic featured a condensed 60-game season leading into a playoff and World Series.

How does the MLB regular season compare to other pro sports like the NFL and NBA?

The MLB’s 162 game season is the longest of any professional sport, and it’s really not that close. The NBA plays 82 regular season games, the NFL plays 17 regular season games, the NHL plays 82 regular season games, and the MLS plays 34 regular season games.