It’s Christmas in October for sports fans as the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL all have games scheduled Monday, creating the 32nd edition of the sports equinox.

What was once a rare event — sometimes not occurring for decades — has become a yearly tradition. Not only has there been at least one sports equinox every year since 2015, but also Monday marks another intriguing milestone. It is the fifth consecutive year that the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS have played on the same day. In just a few hours, fans can catch a glimpse of the greatest stars in North American sports — provided they have the right television or streaming packages. In action are baseball’s Shohei Ohtani, football’s Patrick Mahomes, basketball’s Nikola Jokic, hockey’s Sidney Crosby — who each have won multiple league MVP awards and at least one championship — and soccer’s Evander, a finalist for MVP this season.

The action gets started with Evander’s FC Cincinnati facing off against the Columbus Crew in Round 1 of the MLS Playoffs on Fox Sports 1 at 6:45 p.m. ET. Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins get underway at 7 p.m. ET in their matchup against the St. Louis Blues on NHL Network, one of two NHL games on Monday.

Beginning at 8 p.m. ET, the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers face off in Game 3 of the World Series on Fox, as Ohtani plays in his second straight Fall Classic. Then, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs kick off against the Washington Commanders at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN. A slate of 11 NBA games is highlighted by Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets against Anthony Edwards’ Minnesota Timberwolves at 9:30 p.m. ET on Peacock.

It is the type of day that sports fans dream of, and luckily, it appears the sports equinox will continue yearly.

The sports equinox used to be rare

The first sports equinox arrived on Oct. 17, 1971. That fall day featured Game 7 of the 1971 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles, won by Roberto Clemente and the Pirates. Between 1972 and 1985, there were eight sports equinoxes, all occurring on Sundays.

There was just one sports equinox from 1986 to 2009, taking place in 2001 after the MLB season was paused because of 9/11. The World Series stretched that year into November for the first time. The New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks played Game 7 on Nov. 4.

Game 7 of the 2001 World Series was the first part of the first sports equinox in 15 years. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images)

That was a particularly special day in the Phoenix area, with all four major pro sports teams playing games, with the Suns, Cardinals and Diamondbacks all at home and only the Coyotes on the road.

The only other time a geographical area had all four of its pro sports teams in action on one day took place in Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2018. And what’s more, Los Angeles became the lone city to play host for all four contests on the same day. The Dodgers played Game 5 of the World Series against the Red Sox, and the Clippers, Rams and Kings all hosted regular-season matchups.

Why is the sports equinox relatively common now?

Until 2015, there had been only 14 occurrences of the sports equinox. Since that point, there has been at least one every year and sometimes multiple. This is a product of changing calendars for certain leagues.

Since 2001, MLB has played November baseball nine times after never doing so previously. The latest finish to an MLB season was in 2022, when the Phillies-Astros World Series concluded on Nov. 5.

This year also marks the fourth consecutive campaign in which the World Series began on a Friday, largely to avoid conflict with Sunday Night Football. When the Fall Classic began on a Friday in 2022, it was the first time since 1915. If the Dodgers and Blue Jays reach Game 7, MLB would play at least one game in November for the 10th time in the past 25 years.

Meanwhile, the NBA has continued to move the start of its season forward. In an effort to reduce back-to-back games and overall fatigue when the spring arrives, the league moved to a mid-October start beginning with the 2017-18 season. The 2025-26 season began on Oct. 21, and the consistent earlier start has led to more opportunities for overlap.

Thanks to expanded playoffs and more teams joining the league, the MLS season now stretches into the winter. In the early 2000s, the MLS finished in mid-to-late October. It comes to a conclusion in November and December these days. After the 2019 season finished with the MLS Cup on Nov. 10, the final has taken place in December four of the five years since the pandemic.

All of this, coupled with the NFL playing weekly on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays, creates an environment for the sports equinox to flourish. Not to mention, the NHL reportedly will begin its 2026-27 season in late September, according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun.

Enjoy this lovely day that is jam-packed with our favorite sports. However, there’s no need to be too disappointed when it’s over, because the sports equinox will likely be back next year.