MLB nine-inning games average 2:42 after ABS challenge system debut

Major League Baseball announced Monday that the average nine-inning game lasted 2 hours and 42 minutes this season, up 3 minutes and 43 seconds from last year. The league attributed 61 seconds of that increase to the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System, which allows batters, catchers and pitchers to appeal ball-and-strike calls for computer review. Games remain substantially shorter than before recent pace rules. The average was 3:04 in 2022, dropped to 2:40 in 2023 after the pitch clock was instituted, reached 2:36 in 2024—the lowest since 1984—and stood at 2:38 in 2025. The average first passed three hours in 2016 and set a record of 3:10 in 2021; PitchCom helped bring the 2022 figure down to 3:04. Contested: no factual disputes found. Left-leaning outlets foregrounded robot umpires making games a little longer while noting praise for ABS and the still-sub-three-hour pace. The right-leaning outlet led on the 3:43 rise after ABS debut. All sides report the same MLB numbers.