2018 MLB Schedule is released

[Catch]

Opening day for all 30 teams is Thursday, March 29th.

[DOUGHBOYS]

Other notes about the 2018 schedule....

• The Cardinals and Cubs will meet on the Thursday of the All-Star break (July 19) for a game at Wrigley Field.
Good news for those of us who by that day of the break are going insane due to baseball withdrawal. That game replaces the Sunday night game going into the break, with the players getting that taken off the schedule as part of the CBA negotiations.

• All interleague games will be division vs. division— AL East vs. NL East, et cetera.

• The Twins and Indians will play a two-game series at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico on April 17–18, the first such regular-season series there since 2010. The Marlins and Pirates were scheduled to play there in 2016, but the Zika virus outbreak that year prompted MLB to move that matchup to Miami.

• Oakland's game against the White Sox on April 17 will be free to the public.

[Joe Sambito]

The early start to the season, also gets drafts in Vegas on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, which also coincides with St. Patrick's Day! Something very nostalgic about this, Can't wait!

[Yah Mule]

Long overdue application of basic common sense.

[headhunters]

"basic common sense" oh please- not that!

[Yah Mule]

Alright, fellas, we've got 2,430 games to get through, plus the post season, so let's bleed 'em out slow.

[Edwards Kings]

Other notes about the 2018 schedule....

• Oakland's game against the White Sox on April 17 will be free to the public.

Both interested fans have already confirmed attendance....

[Greg Ambrosius]

I will make an official post on this shortly, but yes I did see this last week and I am VERY EXCITED about the upcoming schedule.

We will host First Weekend Las Vegas on Friday, March 16th, Saturday, March 17th and Sunday, March 18th. St. Patrick's Day is on Saturday, March 17th, so this could be one of the wildest weekends we've ever seen for baseball in Las Vegas. This is the Opening Weekend of March Madness, with Sweet Sixteen being held on the Second Weekend of NFBC drafts.

We also will host New York City that weekend, likely at Hotel Penn, where we just completed a very successful football draft season. We had both SiriusXM and the FNTSY Sports Network live in New York City, broadcasting drafts and interviewing our top players. We liked everything about that setup this year. And if we do Chicago as expected, it will definitely be this First Weekend again. Waiting until the final weekend last year did not fill up more than 1 Main Event league or Auction league, so if we try again it will be on the First Weekend. Stay tuned for more details there.

Second Weekend will only be in Las Vegas and will start on Thursday, March 22nd and continue through Sunday, March 25th. That being said, if there is enough interest for live drafts on Tuesday, March 27th we will consider an extra day of those as well. I'm pretty sure that with this new setup we will offer Main Events on that Tuesday Online, so why not consider a final live Main Event. We'll talk through this shortly.

All 30 teams apparently start on Thursday, March 29th, so we're drafting a few days before the season begins and likely a few days before rosters are set, closers are determined and starting rotations are set. We're all in the same boat on each particular Draft Day, so nobody has the advantage. Things change so often in baseball that nothing is ever set in stone. There are advantages and disadvantages to each drafting date.

But it looks like MLB will stick with this schedule for some time, so let's find the perfect solution for this season and make it work for years to come. Feedback is always welcome, so let's make sure we have every event set for the right dates and locations. Thanks all and we can't wait to kick off NFBC XV.