The Boston Red Sox clinched the 2018 World Series Sunday night after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 in the best-of-seven series. It's their fourth World Series title in 15 years and ninth overall.
The champions are bringing home more than the Commissioner's Trophy. They will also earn a sizable bonus.
All players who compete in the postseason receive a playoff bonus, but the amount depends on how far their team advances. The further they make it, the bigger the share they earn. In 2017, players earned a record $84.5 million from postseason bonuses, and the winning Houston Astros team split a record $30.4 million. The World Series runner-up, the Los Angeles Dodgers, split $20.3 million.
"The players' pool" — which is divided among the 10 postseason clubs — "is formed from 50 percent of the gate receipts from the Wild Card Games; 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first three games of the Division Series; 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first four games of the League Championship Series; and 60 percent of the gate receipts from the first four games of the World Series," according to the MLB.
It's too soon to tell how big the postseason pot will be this year, but both the Red Sox and Dodgers can expect a hefty bonus. Here's a breakdown of the percentage of the pool that goes to each team:
World Series Champion: 36 percent
World Series Runner-Up: 24 percent
League Championship Series Runners-Up (2): 24 percent (12 percent each)
Division Series Runners-Up (4): 13 percent (3.2 percent each)
Wild Card Game Runners-Up (2): 3 percent (1.5 percent each)
Once the money has been divvied out to each club, it's up to the players to decide who gets a share of their team's winnings.
"Each year, as stipulated in the basic agreement between the players union and Major League Baseball, teams headed to the postseason hold a meeting to distribute shares," The New York Times reports. "The money is designated in 25 full shares, but the players may divide the shares to include those who played during the year but were not on the playoff roster, as well as coaches, trainers and strength coaches."
Plus, "other nonuniformed personnel, like clubhouse attendants, chefs, public relations staff, security guards, bus drivers and grounds crew members — a precedent set in 1903 — can be awarded some of the cash."
In 2017, the Astros split their winnings into 60 full shares worth $438,901 each, 9.2 partial shares and four cash awards. The Dodgers chose to split their winnings into 65 full shares worth $259,722 each, 12.8 partial shares and 14 cash awards.
Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube!
