Rob Manfred wants four team divisions, interested in expanding to 32 MLB teams

quote:

---

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters recently that he’s interested in expanding from 30 to 32 franchises. The sport’s growing revenues support the concept, and Manfred cited the favorable schedule of 16-team leagues split into four divisions of four. (Tighter divisional footprints would make owners happy, because fewer road games would start at unfavorable times for local television.)

Still, Manfred cautioned that the timeline for expansion is “not immediate.” He’s acknowledged that the process can’t begin until stadium issues are resolved in Oakland and Tampa Bay. For that reason, we’re five or six years — at the very earliest — from seeing the inauguration of new MLB franchises.

---