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Manfred: MLB plans to have fans at games during NLCS, World Series

Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Major League Baseball plans to have fans attend games at Globe Life Field in Texas during the National League Championship Series and the World Series, according to commissioner Rob Manfred.

"We are pressing ahead to have fans in Texas," Manfred told Bob Nightengale of USA Today. "One of the most important things to our game is the presence of fans. Starting down the path of having fans in stadiums, and in a safe and risk-free environment, is very, very important to our game."

MLB's postseason begins Sept. 29 with wild-card series taking place at higher-seeded teams' home ballparks. Advancing teams will enter neutral-site playoff bubbles for the division series, championship series, and World Series.

Globe Life Field will serve as one of the bubble sites for NL playoff games and will also be the venue for the World Series.

Manfred said MLB intends to announce a ticket-sale plan for games in Texas soon, according to Nightengale.

Manfred also clarified comments he made on Sept. 16 about MLB likely using an expanded postseason format beyond 2020.

"Look, 16 teams was a really good solution for the unique environment we had in 2020," he said. "But I want to be clear: When I talked about the expanded playoffs going forward before (COVID-19) ever hit, we never talked about 16 teams as a permanent solution. We never talked about more than 14 teams. Those plans addressed marginalizing the value of winning the division and preserving the competitiveness through the regular season.

"The expanded playoffs cover a vast waterfront, but what we discussed was a very different format than we're seeing now."

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