The sports equinox is back. Here’s how to watch all 4 leagues on Monday

We know that you, dear readers of The Athletic, like watching sports. It’s a reliable social routine or a sacred ritual, whichever you need in a given moment. You wouldn’t put so much time and money into it if the payoff wasn’t there.

Monday marks an unofficial holiday. If ball is life, here’s proof of concept: There’s a World Series showdown, “Monday Night Football,” NBA games and a pair of NHL contests all going down at once. This night of industrial-grade sports-watching is called a “sports equinox.” It feels like something between a crowded theme park and a buffet dessert palace, and both of those require a plan. Here’s yours:

All times listed are ET.

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Sports equinox 2025 viewing guide

Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub.

*for in-market viewers only

ABC and Fox are free over the air. Fox also streams on Fox One, and all ABC/ESPN broadcasts are available on ESPN Unlimited.

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Remind me again: What is a “sports equinox”?

This quasi-holiday, full-on overstimulation happens when North America’s “big four” leagues all have games on the same night. The NFL’s regular season starts in September, while both the NBA and NHL begin in mid-to-late October, so those three intersect throughout the fall. But MLB’s playoffs winnow down right when the other leagues pick up, so this is the rare window for total overlap.

Granted, there are more than four pro sports leagues in the U.S., and one of them is indeed active on Monday — the MLS Cup playoffs continue with the Columbus Crew at FC Cincinnati and the Seattle Sounders at Minnesota United. The NWSL is also ongoing, but its next matches aren’t until Sunday, Nov. 2. The ascendant WNBA wrapped up its run earlier in the month (here’s looking at you, A’ja Wilson). And for those wondering, the World Dog Surfing Championships took place in August.

The sports equinox usually happens once a year. Unsurprisingly, it’s a boon for broadcasters and bookmakers alike. After last year’s equinox, BetMGM reported a 15 percent increase in slips compared to the average date.

So, which games should be prioritized Monday?

It’s a matter of preference and personal impact, of course, but the stakes are vastly different. Here’s how we’ll rank Monday night’s offerings across the “big four”:

1. MLB is the clear-cut No. 1

It’s the World Series and a particularly compelling one at that. The Los Angeles Dodgers are defending champions, an incumbent dynasty potent enough to inspire philosophical crossroading. Earlier in these playoffs, Shohei Ohtani put together the greatest single performance in baseball’s 150 years of existence. He faces the Toronto Blue Jays, who broke through for their first pennant in more than three decades and carry Canada’s collective hopes. If not for Ohtani, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s postseason run would be discussed with its own historical reverence. What a banger of a baseball finale.

2. MNF is next

An NFL season is compressed to just 17 games, while the NBA and NHL blow past that with 82 apiece. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the starry Kansas City Chiefs lost their first two games of 2025, which inspired its own cycle of faux crisis. But football’s standard-bearers have claimed four of their last five outings, and their rowdy home crowd should be all the way turned up under the lights. The Washington Commanders are without Jayden Daniels, but hey, Monday’s starter is Marcus Mariota, who once threw a touchdown pass to himself in a road playoff upset of the Chiefs.

3. Then the loaded NBA slate

There are 11 total basketball games spread across a six-hour window:

• Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons, 7 p.m.
• Orlando Magic at Philadelphia 76ers, 7 p.m.
• Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls, 8 p.m.
• Brooklyn Nets at Houston Rockets, 8 p.m.
• Boston Celtics at New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m.
• Toronto Raptors at San Antonio Spurs, 8 p.m.
• Oklahoma City Thunder at Dallas Mavericks, 8:30 p.m.
• Phoenix Suns at Utah Jazz, 9 p.m.
• Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves, 9:30 p.m.
• Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m.
• Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Lakers, 10:30 p.m.

Among those lacing up Monday night are Nikola Jokić (a triple-doubling singularity with three MVPs in five years) and Victor Wembanyama (what on earth is this?!). The defending champion Thunder also visit No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks.

Then it’s Stephen Curry’s Warriors, followed by the Lake Show with the final tipoff of the night. Fans are covered through sleep time.

4. Finally, one (or both!) of the NHL games

NHL has a much shorter two-game slate on Monday.

• St. Louis Blues at Pittsburgh Penguins, 7 p.m.
• Boston Bruins at Ottawa Senators, 7:30 p.m.

The national game takes a look at the Blues and Penguins. St. Louis’ Jake Neighbours is a rising goal scorer at just 23 years old. Pittsburgh counters with Evgeni Malkin (39) and Sidney Crosby (38), two all-timers who are still gliding.

The MLB and NFL action is also easiest to watch. Those games are on Fox and ABC, respectively. Both networks are free with a broadcast antenna and included in every possible television package. For national audiences, NBA’s Monday night lineup falls on either Peacock or League Pass, app exclusives behind paywalls. The first NHL game is on NHL Network (which often requires a TV sports package upgrade) and the second is on ESPN+ (another digital-only subscription).

How should we break this thing up?

There’s no need to split screens within screens if you don’t want to do that, and no one should get stressed out by a novelty holiday. But for the completionists, there’s a way to check all four boxes without retinal damage.

7 p.m.: Blues-Penguins on NHL Network, with an NBA stream on League Pass or Peacock if you have a laptop to use.

8 – 11: The World Series game on Fox. Nine-inning games clocked in around two hours and 40 minutes this year, but there’s extra pageantry (and commercials) for the Fall Classic.

8:30 – 11-30: “Monday Night Football” check-ins on ABC/ESPN, to see if the Chiefs are heading for a typical one-score finish. Use picture-in-picture for the smaller screen, or smash that “previous channel” button until your remote ascends to Valhalla. NFL games are solid 3+ hour affairs, so you should be able to catch the closing drives uninterrupted after baseball.

11:30: Nuggets-Timberwolves on Peacock. Jokić and Anthony Edwards tip off at 9:30, so the stretch run of that game will be there for you after MNF. The Warriors and Lakers games close you out via NBA League Pass.

After that? Mainline all the highlights you inevitably missed, or start counting down to the next equinox, or maybe just go to sleep.

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