Why MLB Opening Day Overlaps With Sweet 16—and Likely Will Again

Some sports fans might be wondering why MLB’s Opening Day is coinciding with the Sweet 16 of men’s March Madness tipping off Thursday, but this isn’t the first time the overlap has occurred and likely won’t be the last.

Just last year, the two major sporting events both fell on March 28. The first time came in 2019, also on March 28. That was a result of MLB moving its Opening Day up from its traditional early April slot to the last Thursday in March, a move made to facilitate more off days throughout the season.

The MLB schedule is annually released the summer before, and March Madness dates are set through 2031. Next year, the Sweet 16 will begin on March 26, which is the last Thursday of the month and likely when the baseball season is expected to start. That will be the case again in 2027.

But in 2028 and 2029, the Sweet 16 is set to tip off on the third Thursday of March. In 2030 and 2031, the Sweet 16 will go back to the last Thursday in March.

What Do the Numbers Say?

With the small sample size so far, it’s hard to conclude anything definitive, but TV ratings show small dips in the two years that Opening Day coincided with the Sweet 16. 

In 2024, ESPN’s primetime national telecast, Cubs-Rangers, drew 1.58 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings. That was down just slightly from the 1.64 million viewers who watched ESPN’s opening-night broadcast in 2023, White Sox–Astros. In 2019, Red Sox–Mariners drew 1.19 million viewers, down from 1.97 million for the Giants-Dodgers in 2018.

ESPN has MLB’s two national TV broadcasts on Thursday: Brewers-Yankees at 3 p.m. (all times ET) and Tigers-Dodgers at 7 p.m.

Eleven of Thursday’s 14 MLB games begin between 3 p.m. and 4:15 p.m., meaning most will likely finish before the first Sweet 16 game, No. 6 BYU vs. No. 2 Alabama will tip off at 7:09 p.m. 

One option for MLB in the future would be moving Opening Day up again to Tuesday or Wednesday of the same week to avoid March Madness. However, that would require additional changes to spring training schedules.