Competition guide
MLB
Baseball is the most flexible sport to travel for, because volume works in your favour. Teams play 81 home games, usually in three or four game series, so almost any week in summer has a fixture. That turns the decision from which date can I get a ticket into which ballpark do I want to sit in, which is a much better question.
How the format works
Thirty clubs play 162 games from late March or early April into September, in series of two to four games against the same opponent. Twelve teams reach the postseason, six per league, playing a wild card round, division series, league championship series and then the World Series. Spring training runs through February and March in Florida and Arizona.
Run by Major League Baseball. FanForged has no affiliation with them.
A short history
The National League dates to 1876 and the American League to 1901, and the two operated as separate entities long before merging administratively. The sport’s travel appeal comes from that age: a handful of parks still standing from the 1910s sit alongside modern ones built deliberately to look and feel like them.
Why fans travel for it
The ballpark is the attraction. Every park is a different shape, the food is regional rather than generic, and the pace of the game means you can talk through most of it. For visitors, a summer evening game is one of the least demanding and most repeatable sports experiences in North America.
How the calendar shapes a trip
Series structure is the key advantage: if you are in a city for three nights, the same team is usually home for all of them, so you can pick the cheapest or most convenient date. Day games and night games are effectively different trips. Spring training in Florida and Arizona is its own compact travel product, with several parks within an hour of each other.
Planning around the MLB
What catches people out
- ›Check the whole series, not one date. Midweek games in the same series are often significantly cheaper than the weekend one.
- ›Day games in July and August are genuinely hot. Look at which side of the park is in shade before choosing seats.
- ›The oldest parks have obstructed-view seats that are sold as such. Read the seat description rather than only the price.
- ›Urban parks are best reached on transit. A few are built around parking and are difficult without a car.
- ›Rain delays are normal. Understand the club’s rain policy before booking a flight out on the same night.
- ›Ballpark tours run on non-game days and on some game days before gates open. They are the best way to see a historic park properly.
- ›Spring training tickets go on sale months ahead and the small parks sell out. Treat it as a separate booking exercise.
Traditions worth knowing
- ›The seventh-inning stretch, sung in every park
- ›Regional ballpark food that differs city to city
- ›Day games as an entirely different experience to night games
- ›Spring training in Florida and Arizona as a February and March travel season
Teams we cover in this competition
Matchday logistics, where to stay, and what a visit actually involves.
Baseball · Major League Baseball
New York Yankees
New York, United States
Yankee Stadium
Baseball is the sport to build a first American sports trip around: the schedule is dense, tickets are obtainable, and a weekday game costs a fraction of a football or basketball equivalent. Stay in Manhattan and treat the Bronx as a twenty-five minute subway ride rather than a destination.
View Team GuideBaseball · Major League Baseball
Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles, United States
Dodger Stadium
A summer night game here is one of the best sporting evenings in America, and the ballpark itself is a genuine piece of mid-century architecture rather than a retro reproduction. The one thing that ruins the trip is transport. The stadium sits on a hill surrounded by parking, and getting in and out is a well-documented problem that a bit of planning solves.
View Team GuideBaseball · Major League Baseball
Boston Red Sox
Boston, United States
Fenway Park
This is the most atmospheric ballpark in America and the least comfortable, and both facts come from the same source: it was built in 1912 into a city block and never moved. Seats are narrow, some have obstructed views, and the concourses are tight. In exchange you get a ballpark inside a real neighbourhood, walkable from Back Bay, with Lansdowne Street running along the back of the outfield wall.
View Team GuideBaseball · Major League Baseball
Chicago Cubs
Chicago, United States
Wrigley Field
No American ballpark is more embedded in its neighbourhood than this one. Wrigleyville exists because of the stadium, the bars along Clark and Addison run for hours either side of first pitch, and rooftop seating on the buildings across Waveland and Sheffield is a legitimate way to watch a game. A summer afternoon game here is the single best value sports day in the United States.
View Team GuideVenues to know
How to reach each one, where to base yourself, and what is walkable afterwards.
Ballpark · 46,537 approx.
Yankee Stadium
New York, United States
Home of New York Yankees
MLB regular season and postseason · MLS · College football bowl game
View Venue GuideBallpark · 56,000 approx.
Dodger Stadium
Los Angeles, United States
Home of Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB regular season and playoffs · Concerts
View Venue GuideBallpark · 37,700 approx.
Fenway Park
Boston, United States
Home of Boston Red Sox
MLB regular season and playoffs · NHL Winter Classic · Concerts
View Venue GuideBallpark · 41,600 approx.
Wrigley Field
Chicago, United States
Home of Chicago Cubs
MLB regular season and playoffs · NHL Winter Classic · Concerts
View Venue GuideCities to build the trip around
Where this competition is worth travelling for, with transit and neighbourhood notes.
New York / New Jersey
New York & New Jersey, United States
The deepest sports market in the world, with two NFL teams, two baseball teams, two hockey teams, two basketball teams, a Grand Slam tennis event, and a marathon that shuts down five boroughs. Getting around is genuinely easy here, which is rarer than it sounds in American sports travel.
- Major venues
- MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford NJ · Madison Square Garden, Midtown Manhattan
- Best hotel areas
- Midtown Manhattan · Long Island City, Queens
- Airports
- JFK connects via AirTrain to the E, J, Z, and LIRR
Los Angeles
California, United States
Los Angeles hosts more major sport than any other American city and is about to host the Olympics for a third time. The catch is geography: venues are scattered across roughly 50 miles of county, and the difference between a good trip and a bad one is almost always where you chose to sleep.
- Major venues
- SoFi Stadium, Inglewood · Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Exposition Park
- Best hotel areas
- Downtown LA · Santa Monica
- Airports
- LAX is the main gateway and sits close to Inglewood venues but far from Downtown and Pasadena
Miami
Florida, United States
Miami has become one of the busiest event markets in American sport, carrying a Formula 1 race, an NFL stadium that regularly draws championship events, a major tennis event, and a nightlife scene that is genuinely part of the draw. It is also more spread out than visitors expect.
- Major venues
- Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens · Miami International Autodrome, Miami Gardens
- Best hotel areas
- Brickell · South Beach
- Airports
- Miami International (MIA) is closest to Downtown and Brickell and connects to Metrorail
First-time fan questions
Day game or night game?
Night games are cooler and have a better atmosphere in most parks. Day games leave your evening free and are usually cheaper. In the hottest months, check which seats are in shade before choosing a day game.
How far ahead do tickets go on sale?
The full schedule is published the previous year and single-game tickets typically go on sale in the winter. With 81 home dates, availability for a regular midweek game is rarely the problem.
Is a ballpark tour worth it?
At the historic parks, yes. Tours reach areas closed on game days and run on a schedule that does not clash with a fixture, so you can do both on the same trip.
Part of the Baseball hub
Baseball is long, which makes it the ideal bar sport for a slow afternoon rather than an event night. Postseason changes that entirely. In a team city, the bars near the ballpark are as much a part of the day as the game itself.
Open the Baseball travel hubWhere to go next
Last updated August 18, 2026
Sources and verification
- MLB official site Schedule, postseason structure and club ballpark pages.
- Yankee Stadium tours
Competition formats, fixture calendars, ticketing rules and session times change between seasons. Confirm with the organiser before booking travel.
FanForged is an independent sports travel and fan guide. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any event organiser, league, federation, team, venue, or rights holder. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.