The Evil Empires, and Tampa and Texas, Get Richer
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wsj.com
Once the playoffs begin, the numbers suggest the wealth will rise even farther toward the top, rather than trickling down. Under the old system, wild-card teams had about a 9% chance of winning the World Series. Now, adding in a one-game playoff, their chances shrink to about 4.6% for a world title. Division winners, meanwhile, have a 13.6% chance of becoming world champs, about the same as their chances under the old system.
The difference now though, is winning a division title means having a chance to win the World Series that is 300% better than a wild card's. Under the old format, a division winner's chances of winning the World Series were only about 44% better than a wild card's.
White Sox' chances at the playoffs leap from 8% to 9%.
