How many games are played in an MLB season? Full breakdown and detailed look at baseball’s long schedule

The MLB regular season spans half a year, typically from either March or April's last days to September's end or October's early days. All 30 franchises, which are evenly split between the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), have to play 162 matches each, which was first done in the AL in 1961 and in the NL a year later. The entire process of careful scheduling is aimed at achieving fairness across divisions and even leagues.Every squad is to participate in a total of 52 matches composed of 13 rivalries against each divisional foe, plus 39 games against non-divisional rivals. Moreover, 6 different league rivals are confronted in 6 meetings, and 7 matches are played with 4 other league teams, resulting in a total of 64 matches.Intra-league play, introduced in 1997, broadened the schedule by having each team participate in 46 interleague contests, including one series against a chosen "rival" from the opposing league. The allocation approach guarantees that all teams will have a combination of historic rivalries and new inter-league meetings.The league's calendar consists of a total of 2,430 regular-season games and playoff games, which is why the MLB has one of the toughest schedules in professional sports. The massive timetable is an everlasting characteristic of baseball and a headache at the same time. It allows the statistical trends to stabilize, the personal feuds to heat up, and one of the longest competitions in sports to be, no other than, the fans' delight.The enormous number of games makes it inevitable that, for the season to go on, baseball calls for consistency and depth from players' rosters. A shorter-season sport does not require consistent performance over long stretches like the MLB, where the team has to deal with injuries, player unproductiveness, and tiredness in the contests held almost daily. The calendar is tough, with only a small amount of time for rest, and moving around the U.S. and Canada adds to the hardship.