How Much Do The World Series Champions Make?
Major League Baseball's World Series champions, besides earning bragging rights as the best of the best, get a hefty chunk of change as well. But exactly what they will earn is a mystery until after the final game. The winning team is guaranteed the Commissioner's Trophy, worth $20,000 to $30,000, and the players and staff receive a World Series ring, worth about $20,000, per NBC 5 and Al Dia. But as far as the team's postseason bonuses are concerned, the number isn't set in stone, according to MLB.com.
Like everything associated with the sport, there is a complex formula involved. The 12 teams that make it into the postseason share a pool derived from postseason gate receipts, with the World Series winner getting the biggest share. In 2022, players from the World Series-winning Houston Astros who received a full share earned more than $500,000, the biggest full postseason share in history, according to Forbes. Players who have been on the team's roster for the entire season are entitled to a full share.
Lots of factors are involved
MLB players's salaries don't cover postseason play, so a unique system exists to financially compensate them. Major League Baseball derives these bonuses — which are officially known as postseason shares — from a players' pool. Per MLB.com, the funding is pulled from: "50% of the gate receipts from the Wild Card Games; 60% of the gate receipts from the first three games of the Division Series; 60% of the gate receipts from the first four games of the League Championship Series; and 60% of the gate receipts from the first four games of the World Series."
The winning team, as well as the other 11 that made it into postseason play, then determine how the money they receive will be split among the players and staff, with the amount changing based on how many full and partial shares the team allocates. For instance, in 2022, the Astros dolled out 59 full shares, while the Phillies, which lost the World Series, gave out 72, per MLB.com.
The practice started back in 1903
This unique system all started back in 1903 following the first World Series thanks to an owner who wanted to show his appreciation to his players. Barney Dreyfuss, the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates — which lost to the Boston Americans — donated the money he earned from the series to his players. According to The New York Times, the take for each player amounted to a little over $1000, which was more than the Boston players made. Still, it's nowhere in the league of what the Astros players received 119 years later.
In a sport infamous for rule changes, including several new ones instituted in 2023, it's no surprise that the way postseason shares work has also changed over the years. The latest change came in 2022, when the MLB and the Players Association adjusted the formula, which helped net the Astros the record-breaking bonuses they earned that year.