MLB Officially Announces Postseason Bubble, Globe Life Field to Host 2020 World Series

Major League Baseball and the Players Association (MLBPA) have come to an agreement to have a neutral-site bubble for the postseason, with the World Series to be held at Globe Life Field

Editor's Note: This story has been updated since originally published.

Major League Baseball and the Players Association (MLBPA) have officially come to an agreement to have a neutral-site bubble for the postseason. The World Series is set to begin on October 20 and will be played at Globe Life Field, the new home of the Texas Rangers.

MLB officially announced the plan for the postseason on Tuesday.

Courtesy: Major League Baseball

"Before COVID hit, the owners had a meeting right here to see this new Globe Life Field," said Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams. "To hear firsthand from those owners there how impressed they were with this ballpark, that that really laid a lot of groundwork because these teams that are in the playoffs and World Series are going to be coming to the premier Major League Baseball ballpark in America.”

There will be two separate bubbles: one for the American League, one for the National League. The AL bubble will he held in Southern California while the NL bubble will be in Texas. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the playoff locations will look like this:

• Wild Card: Home ballparks of seeds 1-4 for all three games
• NLDS: Globe Life Field and Minute Maid Park
• ALDS: Petco Park and Dodger Stadium
• NLCS: Globe Life Field
• ALCS: Petco Park
• World Series: Globe Life Field

According to multiple reports, key points of MLB's postseason bubble plan are:

• Players on contending teams will have to quarantine at their respective hotels in the final seven days of the regular season.
• Families of players on contending teams will be permitted to quarantine with players for the seven-day period and can remain together throughout the postseason run. Family members would be considered to be part of the bubble.
• Everyone considered to be part of the bubble will be tested for COVID-19 on a daily basis.
• Players can elect to leave their hotels once their team has been eliminated.

With the success that the NBA and NHL have had with their respective bubbles for their postseason play, it's a shrewd move to have MLB's postseason played in a similar fashion. 

For the Texas Rangers, hosting the World Series at Globe Life Field is quite the consolation prize after having to play the first season in their new home without having paying customers in the stands.

"We’d love the Rangers to be in the World Series this year," said Rangers Executive Vice President of Business Operations. "Whoever comes through our doors, whichever clubs are fortunate enough to make it to the championship, we’re thrilled to host them here in Arlington and Globe Life Field."

Commissioner Rob Manfred has expressed interest in having fans attend postseason games. Current Texas state regulations would allow Globe Life Field and Minute Maid Park to be filled up to 50 percent capacity. While no final decision has been made regarding fans attending games, Rangers ownership played a vital role in Globe Life Field landing the World Series.

"I do think that that relationship certainly helped when we understood it was being contemplated that a neutral site, a World Series, or even a larger portion of the postseason could come into being," Matwick said. 

"But we certainly want to thank Major League Baseball and Commissioner Manfred for having confidence in us in being able to deliver at the highest level of our game, at the most important games, and the most important times of the year for Major League Baseball here in October.”

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