26th 'Sports Equinox' to take place Thursday

Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James. Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

26th 'Sports Equinox' to take place on Thursday

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated Oct 20, 2022 9:16 AM ET

Thursday is a massive day for professional sports, as each of the "Big Four" leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL) will be in action. It's only the 26th ever "Sports Equinox."

Today marks just the 26th Sports Equinox ever, as there will be an NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL game all played on the same day.

Saints at Cardinals
⚾️ Yankees at Astros
Bucks at 76ers, Clippers at Lakers
12 NHL games

Plus college football, MLS playoffs and more.

EPIC day.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 20, 2022

According to Jeff Tracy of Axios, there wasn't a single "Sports Equinox" from 1985 to 2001, but now with "Thursday Night Football," a later World Series start time, and an earlier NBA regular season tipoff, the occurrences are significantly more frequent. In the past five years alone, there were a pair of "Sports Equinoxes" in 2017 (Oct. 19, Oct. 29), two in 2018 (Oct. 18, Oct. 28), one in 2019 (Oct. 27), and even three in 2020 -- the first full year of the COVID-19 pandemic (Sept. 10, Sept. 13, Sept. 17).

There were two more occurrences in 2021 (Oct. 21, Oct. 31) and Thursday will be the first of a record four "Sports Equinoxes" set for 2022. The next three are slated to come on Oct. 23, Oct. 24, and Oct. 31.

Victor Barbosa

Victor Barbosa is a passionate follower of MLB, the NBA and NFL, with a deep interest in Boston-area teams. He graduated from Springfield College -- The Birthplace of Basketball -- in 2013 with a degree in Communications-Sports Journalism. Previous bylines include FanSided, Heavy and Syracuse

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