Field Gulls
We are fast approaching the month of October, and that means the start of postseason baseball.
The Seattle Mariners are playing for a shot at the World Series, having won the American League West division title for the first time since their record-tying season of 2001. While this is obviously exciting for baseball fans in the Emerald City, it may cause some scheduling hiccups for a few upcoming Seattle Seahawks home games.
As noted by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, both of the Seahawks’ next two games at Lumen Field fall on days when the Mariners could be hosting playoff baseball at T-Mobile Park. The Seahawks are set to host their expansion siblings in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Week 5 on Oct. 5 before then hosting the Houston Texans for a Monday Night Football matchup to close out Week 7 on Oct. 20.
Both of these games fall on days that could conflict with the Mariners’ postseason run—the Seahawks’ Week 5 contest is the same day as Game 2 of the American League Division Series, a home game for the second-seeded Mariners. In addition, the Mariners could be at home for Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Oct. 20—the same night as the Seahawks-Texans MNF game—provided they make it that far and do not face the AL East division champions in the ALCS.
Seeing as the two facilities are within walking distance of one another, this would make traffic a pain for those looking to attend a game on one (or both) of those days. If Major League Baseball chooses to give the Mariners an afternoon time slot for Game 2 of the ALDS, Seattle officials say that kickoff for the Seahawks game (which is currently set for 1:05 p.m. PT) will be pushed back anywhere from 90 to 150 minutes. A final decision from MLB officials will be made by Friday.
Later in the month, a far less probable situation may come into play—if the Mariners were to make it to Game 7 of the ALCS, city officials are saying that the decisive game would begin at 4:30 p.m. PT, approximately 150 minutes prior to the start of the Seahawks’ Monday Night Football contest.
The last time a similar conflict arose was in October of 2022, when the Mariners faced the Houston Astros in the ALDS. Game 4 of the ALDS would have been held on the same day as a Seahawks game against the Arizona Cardinals, and had this happened, the Seahawks-Cardinals game would have been delayed to 2:30 p.m. PT, 85 minutes later than the originally scheduled 1:05 start. However, this did not come to pass as the Mariners were eliminated in Game 3 of the series.
Now to play the waiting game, wondering how the start times of these next few Seahawks home games will be affected by the Mariners’ postseason run. Your move, MLB.
