MLB game times continue to drop -- and marathon contests are increasingly rare

The average length of nine-inning MLB games continues to fall well below the three-hour mark.

Nine-inning games during the 2025 season have, on average, clocked in at 2 hours, 38 minutes through Thursday, marking the third straight season in which the average game time was 2:40 or shorter.

The trend marks the first time since 1983-85 that the average nine-inning game time was 2:40 or shorter in three consecutive seasons. The average nine-inning game time was 2:36 last season and 2:40 in 2023.

Also of note, the number of regular-season nine-inning games of 3 hours, 30 minutes or longer continues to drop significantly.

Through Thursday's play, just three games this season were 3:30 or longer, which is down from seven last season and nine in 2023, the first season that incorporated the pitch timer and limited batter timeouts and pitcher disengagements.

In the two most recent seasons before the pitch timer and other time-saving measures, the number of nine-inning games of 3:30 or longer was in the hundreds -- 232 in 2022 and 391 in 2021.