It may not be a traditional sports holiday like Christmas, Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July, but Monday will be a mix of all three for fans.
Oct. 28, 2024, is one of the rare dates on the sports calendar that will feature professional baseball, football, basketball and hockey games. From the World Series to Monday Night Football to the NBA and NHL seasons, there is action across the board.
Just how rare is such an occasion? Here’s everything you need to know about the “sports equinox.”
What is a sports equinox?
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
The sports equinox occurs when MLB, the NFL, the NBA and the NHL all hold games on the same day.
While the celebration centers around the “Big Four” leagues, other sports can also get involved, too.
How many sports equinoxes have there been?
Oct. 28, 2024, will be the 31st sports equinox in history.
The first one occurred on Oct. 17, 1971, with a World Series Game 7, 12 NFL games, three NBA games and six NHL games. Nine sports equinoxes occurred between 1971 and 1980, another fell on Oct. 27, 1985, and then it was 16 more years before another one happened again on Nov. 4, 2001. There has been at least one sports equinox every year since 2015, including three in 2022 and one in 2023.
There is a small window where a sports equinox can occur. The NBA and NHL seasons traditionally begin in mid-to-late October, right as the MLB postseason is coming to a close. Because of those schedules, 27 of the 30 sports equinoxes in history have occurred between Oct. 12 and Nov. 4 in their given year.
The only sports equinoxes that fell outside of that window occurred in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the MLB, NBA and NHL seasons and created a busy September. The year featured sports equinoxes on Sept. 10, 13 and 17 with regular season games for the NFL and MLB, along with postseason matchups in the NBA and NHL.
Oct. 28 sports equinox schedule
Monday’s sports equinox will include Game 3 of the World Series, Monday Night Football, 11 NBA matchups and eight NHL tilts:
MLB
NFL
- Giants vs. Steelers, 8:15 p.m. ET
NBA
- Pacers vs. Magic, 7 p.m. ET
- Wizards vs. Hawks, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Bucks vs. Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Pistons vs. Heat, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Cavaliers vs. Knicks, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Nuggets vs. Raptors, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Bulls vs. Grizzlies, 8 p.m. ET
- Rockets vs. Spurs, 8 p.m. ET
- Jazz vs. Mavericks, 8:30 p.m. ET
- Lakers vs. Suns, 10 p.m. ET
- Trail Blazers vs. Kings, 10 p.m. ET
NHL
- Panthers vs. Sabres, 7 p.m. ET
- Oilers vs. Blue Jackets, 7 p.m. ET
- Predators vs. Lightning, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Maple Leafs vs. Jets, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Blackhawks vs. Avalanche, 9 p.m. ET
- Sharks vs. Utah Hockey Club, 9 p.m. ET
- Hurricanes vs. Canucks, 10 p.m. ET
- Flames vs. Golden Knights, 10 p.m. ET
Will there be another sports equinox in 2024?
There will only be one sports equinox in 2024 since Oct. 28 is the only day with overlap between the World Series and the NFL.
The only way there could be another sports equinox in 2024 is if there is a weather postponement in the World Series that pushes a game to Thursday, Oct. 31, or Sunday, Nov. 3, or an unforeseen NFL postponement that will then coincide with the World Series schedule.
