The All-Star Game will be in Philadelphia, a soccer-induced doubleheader is scheduled for Seattle, and if the Athletics make the playoffs, there could be postseason games in West Sacramento.

However, first, the 2026 MLB season will also feature the earliest Opening Day in the league’s history.

MLB announced its 2026 schedule on Tuesday, which technically opens on March 25 — with the New York Yankees at the San Francisco Giants — before a 14-game traditional Opening Day on Thursday, March 26, marking the earliest Opening Day ever, excluding international one-offs and other special events.

The final regular-season games are scheduled for Sept. 27.

Among the quirks of next year’s 2,430-game schedule are several accommodations for the FIFA World Cup, which will be played throughout North America in June and July. The Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners will play a rare scheduled doubleheader on June 20 in deference to a World Cup match being played on June 19 in Seattle. The Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals also have unusual off days — a handful of weekend dates, mainly — due to World Cup matches being played in their cities.

The 2026 regular season schedule just dropped! Here are the dates you need to remember ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/wVziSlv62e

— MLB (@MLB) August 26, 2025

Otherwise, the season schedule is more or less as usual — a bunch of three- and four-game series across six months of baseball — with a handful of notable matchups sprinkled throughout.

There’s still no official word on where the Tampa Bay Rays will play next season. Still, the expectation has been that they will return to Tropicana Field after spending this season at nearby Steinbrenner Field because of hurricane damage at The Trop. The Rays’ first home game next season is April 6 against the Chicago Cubs.

The Athletics will return to their temporary home in West Sacramento — the league clarified that they will play postseason games there if necessary — but the A’s are going to play home games in Las Vegas for a week. From June 8-14, the A’s will host the Milwaukee Brewers and then the Colorado Rockies at Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators (the A’s aren’t scheduled to move to Las Vegas full time until 2028).

The 96th All-Star Game will be played at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 14. The midsummer classic’s return to the City of Brotherly Love comes 50 years after Veterans Stadium hosted the All-Star Game in 1976 for the country’s bicentennial.

The New York Mets and Yankees will play at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 11 to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The Mets and Yankees last played on Sept. 11, 2021, for the 20th anniversary.

Other holiday and celebration matchups have the Mets at the Los Angeles Dodgers for Jackie Robinson Day on April 15, the Detroit Tigers at the Red Sox for Patriots Day on April 20, the Cleveland Guardians at the Yankees for Lou Gehrig Day on June 2, the Mets at the Toronto Blue Jays for Canada Day on July 1, and the Brewers at the Pittsburgh Pirates for Roberto Clemente Day on Sept. 15.

The league has once again scheduled Rivalry Weekend to highlight various regional rivalries — including Mets versus Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals versus Royals, Dodgers versus Angels, and more — for the weekend of May 15-17. The July 4 schedule also has the potential for baseball fireworks, with the San Diego Padres at the Dodgers, the Cubs at the Cardinals, and the Mets at the Atlanta Braves.

It’s too early to know who the defending champs will be. Still, it’s worth noting that the Dodgers open next season at home against the Diamondbacks, the Brewers will be at home against the Chicago White Sox, the Phillies will be at home against the Rangers, the Blue Jays will be at home against the Rays, and the Tigers will be on the road against the Padres. The Dodgers and Yankees will open the second half with a potentially fascinating matchup out of the break.

The Cubs will leave Wrigley Field to play the Red Sox at Fenway Park the last weekend of next season. Other potentially intriguing end-of-the-season matchups include the Baltimore Orioles at Yankees, Dodgers at Giants and Brewers at Cardinals.

(Photo of Oracle Park in San Francisco: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)