Toronto Enjoys Home-Field Advantage Over Dodgers at World Series — "Lights Up, Let's Go!"

The 2025 World Series kicked off on Oct. 24, 2025, as the Toronto Blue Jays were set to face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers had a long wait to determine who they'd be taking on in Game 1, but eventually the Blue Jays triumphed over the Seattle Mariners and set their eyes on a showdown with the Dodgers.

Going into Game 1, the Blue Jays will enjoy the home-field advantage as they hope to dig their claws into the last few games of the season and take the big "W." But why do the Blue Jays have the home-field advantage to begin with? MLB uses a pretty simple formula that decides which team gets the home field, and here's what we know about it.

Over the decades, the method used by MLB to determine who gets the home field for the World Series has been determined through various methods. But by 2025, they had simplified things a little.

According to the MLB website, these two criteria are used:

1. "The team with the higher regular-season win percentage earns the home field, regardless of whether that team won its division title or a Wild Card berth. That means playing host to Games 1-2 and 6-7 (if necessary).
2. If two teams have the same regular-season win percentage, the tiebreaker is head-to-head record, which is possible now that every team faces every other team in at least one series."

Going into the 2025 World Series, the Blue Jays, with a 94-68 season, entered the postseason as the number 3 overall seed, as well as the number 1 seed from the AL.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, as the defending World Series champions and with a 93-69 season, came in at number 5 overall and number 3 from the NL.

So, even though they're defending their title, the Dodgers defer to the Blue Jays, giving them the home-field advantage.

Of course, all of this begs the question: how much does the home-field advantage actually matter? And, interestingly, the answer to that question depends on who you ask.

According to MLB, it doesn't make much difference. They explain, "Teams with World Series home-field advantage in the Wild Card Era (since 1995) have gone on to win the championship 20 of 29 times (69 percent), excluding the 2020 World Series played at a neutral site. But when it comes down to a winner-take-all Game 7, that home field has not made a big difference."

However, if you ask fans, the answer is quite different. To them, the home advantage is almost like a star player on the team, and can make the difference between victory and defeat.

Statistically, it doesn't seem to matter. But, of course, more than math goes into a team's winning strategy. The belief that one has an advantage often translates into confidence and focus, so it can be quite significant.