How much money do MLB players get paid for winning the World Series: Baseball's postseason payouts explained - MLB

Remember that marvellous scene in the film The Untouchables where Robert DeNiro’s Al Capone waxes lyrical about baseball, before suddenly beating one of his cohort to death with a bat? Violence aside, his words about America’s pastime really stand out in the memory as a tug at the heart strings.

“A man stands alone at the plate. This is the time for what? For individual achievement. There he stands alone. But in the field, what? Part of a team. Teamwork.” Cinema history is full of these scenes, Roy Hobbs turning down the bribe money in The Natural, Shoeless Joe getting punished in Eight Men Out, Billy Chapel resigning to frustrate the new owners’ plans to sell him off in For Love of the Game, Ray Kinsella plowing under a crop of corn to build his Field of Dreams. These scenes are memorable and magical because they take something pure, baseball, and sully it with money.

Ok, great. We have gotten nostalgia out of the way, so how about we get into that other great American pastime, contract negotiations? After the “day job” of the season is over, 260 players, plus managers, coaches, trainers, right the way down to the bat boy, have to play anything up to an extra month.

Of course they get paid extra for that. Don’t they? So in a world where contracts are made in multiple years and the figures add up to many millions of dollars, and in a game where there are billions in revenue to be divvied up, how much does each player get?

This year’s World Series prize money is yet to be confirmed, but experts are predicting that the players could each take home a share of a record-setting postseason pool.

How does playoffs prize money work?

Every year, the teams that progress beyond the regular season each receive a portion of MLB’s playoff compensation pool – a fund that comes out of gate receipts taken throughout the postseason.

According to MLB, the pool “is formed from 50 percent of the gate receipts from the Wild Card Games; 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first three games of the Division Series; 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first four games of the League Championship Series; and 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first four games of the World Series.”

Each team’s share of the playoff pool depends on how far it advanced in the postseason. The World Series winners get the largest chunk: 36%. The World Series runners-up receive 24%.

The players on each team then vote on how to divide up their franchise’s postseason payout, which is distributed among individuals as full or partial shares. Players typically get a full share, but must also decide “how many full or partial shares to award to other club personnel”, the MLB explains.

How much did the Dodgers players get in 2025?

In 2025, a postseason compensation pool of just under $128.2 million was divided up among the 12 playoff teams in MLB. Per figures shared by the league, the Dodgers distributed 82 full shares of their portion of the prize money – worth $484,747.57 per person – after beating the Blue Jays in the World Series.

2026 pool could set a new record

Given that the both teams in the 2026 World Series have never won a title, fan interest will be high due to the unique circumstances, despite both teams having smaller fan bases. The series also has a good chance of going seven games, which will increase the pool for players and owners.

How much money do MLB players get paid for winning the World Series: Baseball’s postseason payouts explained

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