Happy Sports Equinox! Thursday is the 27th time in history that the "Big Four" leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB) are all in action on the same day.
The big picture: There was a 16-year period (1985-2001) without a single Sports Equinox. But now that "Thursday Night Football" is a fixture, the World Series starts later, and the NBA season starts earlier, they're much more frequent.
- 1971: Sunday, Oct. 17
- 1972: Sunday, Oct. 15 and Oct. 22
- 1973: Sunday, Oct. 14 and Oct. 21
- 1978: Sunday, Oct. 15
- 1979: Sunday, Oct. 14
- 1980: Sunday, Oct. 12 and Oct. 19
- 1985: Sunday, Oct. 27
- 2001: Sunday, Nov. 4
- 2009: Sunday, Nov. 1; Monday, Nov. 2
- 2010: Monday, Nov. 1
- 2015: Sunday, Nov. 1
- 2016: Sunday, Oct. 30
- 2017: Thursday, Oct. 19; Sunday, Oct. 29
- 2018: Thursday, Oct. 18; Sunday, Oct. 28
- 2019: Sunday, Oct. 27
- 2020: Thursday, Sept. 10; Sunday, Sept. 13; Thursday, Sept. 17
- 2021: Thursday, Oct. 21; Sunday, Oct. 31
Plus: The second round of the MLS playoffs also kicks off tonight, and there's some good college football, golf and European soccer action, too.
Looking ahead: There will be a record four Sports Equinoxes this year, with back-to-back this upcoming Sunday and Monday, then another one on Halloween (Monday, Oct. 31).
