You’re sitting there, maybe with a drink in hand, scrolling through scores, and it hits you. Where is the World Series actually happening this year? It sounds like a simple question. But if you’ve followed baseball for more than a minute, you know the answer is rarely just a single city or a static stadium like the Super Bowl.
Baseball is different. It’s nomadic.
The 2025 World Series just wrapped up a few months ago, and honestly, it was a wild ride that stretched from the chilly air of Toronto to the palm trees of Los Angeles. If you were looking for it on a map last October, you would have found it split between Rogers Centre and Dodger Stadium. The Los Angeles Dodgers eventually took the crown in a grueling seven-game thriller against the Toronto Blue Jays.
But here’s the thing: finding out where the World Series is isn't about checking a pre-determined schedule from three years ago. It’s about the math of the regular season.
Where is the World Series Held? The Rule That Changes Everything
Unlike the NFL, which picks its Super Bowl sites years in advance, Major League Baseball (MLB) lets the teams earn the right to host. Basically, if you want the Fall Classic in your backyard, your team needs to win. A lot.
Since 2017, the "Where" is decided by the best regular-season winning percentage.
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In the 2025 matchup, the Toronto Blue Jays finished with a 94-68 record. The Dodgers, despite being the defending champs, finished just a hair behind at 93-69. Because Toronto had that one extra win in the standings, the series started in Canada.
The 2-3-2 Travel Headache
MLB uses a specific format for where the games are played. It’s called the 2-3-2.
- Games 1 and 2: The team with the better record (Home).
- Games 3, 4, and 5: The team with the lesser record (Away).
- Games 6 and 7: Back to the team with the better record (Home).
It’s a format designed to minimize cross-country flights, but as we saw with the Toronto-to-LA trek, it’s still a brutal schedule for the players. You’ve got a game in Toronto on Saturday night, then everyone is on a charter flight for five hours to play in California by Monday.
Why the Location Used to Be a Total Toss-Up
If you feel like the rules for where the World Series is played keep shifting, you aren't crazy. It used to be much weirder. For decades, the location simply alternated between the American League (AL) and National League (NL) every year. It didn't matter if you won 110 games; if it was an "odd" year and you were NL, you might be starting on the road.
Then came the "All-Star Game" era.
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From 2003 to 2016, the league that won the All-Star Game got home-field advantage for the World Series. It was a polarizing rule. Many fans felt it was silly to let an exhibition game in July determine where the most important games in October were played. MLB eventually agreed and moved to the current record-based system.
The 2025 Map: Rogers Centre vs. Dodger Stadium
To really understand where the World Series lives, look at the 2025 venues. They couldn't have been more different.
Rogers Centre (Toronto): This is a massive, concrete marvel with a retractable roof. In October in Toronto, that roof is almost always closed. It creates a loud, pressurized environment that sounds like a jet engine when the Blue Jays are winning.
Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles): The third-oldest park in the majors. It’s an outdoor cathedral. No roof, just 56,000 people under the California sun or the evening stars.
When people ask "where is the World Series," they are often looking for the atmosphere. In 2025, the series hopped back and forth between these two extremes. Game 3 in LA went 18 innings—the kind of marathon that makes the location feel less like a stadium and more like a survival camp.
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That One Time the World Series Stayed in One Place
There is a rare exception to the "nomadic" nature of the series. If you're looking for the World Series in the history books, you'll find 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire series was played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
It was a "neutral site" World Series. No travel. No home crowds.
Before that, you have to go all the way back to 1944 to find a World Series that stayed in one stadium. That year, the St. Louis Cardinals played the St. Louis Browns. Since they both shared Sportsman’s Park, nobody had to pack a suitcase.
How to Find the Next World Series Location
If you're trying to plan a trip for the 2026 World Series, you can't book your hotel yet. That’s the catch. You have to wait until the League Championship Series (ALCS and NLCS) ends in mid-October.
- Watch the Standings: Keep an eye on who has the best record in late September.
- The Bracket: Even if a team has the best record, they have to survive three rounds of playoffs just to reach the World Series.
- The Reveal: Once the two pennant winners are crowned, MLB will announce the official "Where" within minutes.
Usually, the World Series begins on a Friday in late October. In 2025, Game 1 kicked off on October 24th. You can expect a similar timeline for 2026, with the location being the home turf of whichever finalist had the better summer.
Actionable Insights for Fans
If you want to be at the World Series, you need to be fast. Since the location isn't set until days before the first pitch, travel prices spike instantly.
- Monitor the Top Seeds: If the Yankees or Dodgers are leading the league in August, start looking at "refundable" hotel rooms in those cities for late October.
- Check the Weather: If the series is in a place like Minnesota or Detroit, bring a parka. If it's in Arizona or Texas, it'll likely be indoors with the AC blasting.
- The Secondary Market: Tickets for World Series games are rarely sold to the general public through the box office. They go to season ticket holders first. Be prepared to use sites like SeatGeek or StubHub the moment the matchup is set.
The "Where" of the World Series is a reward for a long, grueling 162-game season. It’s not just a pin on a map; it’s the home of the team that proved they were the best over six months of baseball. Wherever that is, the atmosphere is guaranteed to be electric.