A full share of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ playoff pool was worth $477,441, less than the haul of the two previous World Series-winning teams. But the total amount of money split between the 12 MLB postseason teams this year, $129.1 million, was a record.
Each year, playoff clubs vote on how many full shares, partial shares and dollar awards to give out inside their organizations, which means the amount each person is awarded varies. Players often choose to reward staffers who are around the team throughout the season.
The World Series champion gets 36 percent of the pool, and the losing World Series team 24 percent. This year those amounts came out to a total of $46,473,177 and $30,982,118, respectively.
The two teams eliminated in the League Championship Series get 12 percent apiece. The Division Series losers each get 3.25 percent, and the teams that don’t advance beyond the Wild Card each get 0.75 percent.
The Dodgers gave out 79 full shares, 17.49 partial shares and $405,000 in cash awards. The New York Yankees, the runners-up, awarded 71 full shares worth $354,572 and 16.38 partial shares.
Full shares for the other 2024 playoff teams were worth:
• Cleveland Guardians (72 shares) $182,663
• New York Mets (68) $179,948
• Detroit Tigers (67) $55,729
• Philadelphia Phillies (63) $52,278
• Kansas City Royals (68) $49,583
• San Diego Padres (77) $45,985
• Baltimore Orioles (67) $11,870
• Houston Astros (76) $10,749
• Milwaukee Brewers (68) $10,013
• Atlanta Braves (86) $9,548
The pool is made up of 60 percent of gate receipts from the first four games of the World Series and the LCS, the first three games of every DS, and the first two games of every Wild Card Series. Road teams in the best-of-three Wild Card Series have travel expenses deducted to a maximum of $100,000.
It’s harder to compare numbers from prior years because the postseason field expanded to 12 teams from 10 in 2022, the start of the current collective bargaining agreement.
Last year’s playoffs created $107.8 million in pool money, a then-record. The winner, the Texas Rangers, distributed full shares worth $506,263.
The 2022 figures were similar: The pool that year was $107.5 million, and the champion Houston Astros gave out $516,347, the record for an individual share.
(Photo: Elsa / Getty Images)
