If you love sports, Oct. 26, 2026, will be tough to beat.
Five professional leagues in North America are in action at the same time on Monday night, a phenomena known as a sports equinox.
Click to Gallery
Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard (2), Leon Draisaitl (29) and Connor McDavid (97) celebrate after Draisaitl's goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton, Alberta, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) celebrates scoring during the first half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) talks with guard Kyrie Irving (11) as forward P.J. Washington (25) looks on during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks in Dallas, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Tampa Bay Rays' Jonathan Aranda celebrates a double during the fifth inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Major League Baseball and the NFL will compete for the most viewers while the NBA, WNBA and NHL give their diehard fans games to watch.
Monday marks the 33rd sports equinox, the first since Oct. 27, 2025 and the fourth instance with women's professional basketball included, according to Sportradar.
Here's a guide to attempt to sample a little bit of this and that in the sports smorgasbord:
The Tampa Bay Rays will host the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the World Series with the first pitch scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT on Fox.
The Brewers won the first two games by one run, taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.
Even though the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys both have 2-4 records, the NFL always draws a lot of interest and millions will be watching the NFC East matchup when it kicks off at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN.
The Eagles have lost four in a row, reeling with quarterback Jalen Hurts on injured reserve because of blood clots. The Cowboys have won only one of their last four games.
By the time the baseball and football game start, we'll know if reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg is returning to a lineup from an injury that is expected to include banged-up Kyrie Irving for the Dallas Mavericks on the road against the Miami Heat. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV.
In the middle of the World Series and “Monday Night Football,” the NBA will have an intriguing matchup to compete for attention. Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors travel to face Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at 10 p.m. on NBCSN and Peacock.
The WNBA is vying for eyeballs against MLB, the NFL, NBA and NHL for the first time since 2000, when the league did it three times in September of that year.
The Golden State Valkyries are hosting Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals at 8 p.m. on USA Network, CNBC and Peacock. The best-of-7 series is tied at two games apiece.
The NHL will have some of its top scorers skating in three games.
The New York Rangers, with high-scoring Alexis Lafreniere, will host one of their former stars, Artemi Panarin, and the Los Angeles Kings at 7 p.m. on the NHL Network.
Edmonton star Leon Draisaitl of Germany has a shot to become the first NHL player born outside of North America to score at least two goals in four straight games when Connor McDavid and the Oilers host the Detroit Red Wings at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN+ and Sportsnet.
_
See AP’s full sports report here
Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard (2), Leon Draisaitl (29) and Connor McDavid (97) celebrate after Draisaitl's goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton, Alberta, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) celebrates scoring during the first half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) talks with guard Kyrie Irving (11) as forward P.J. Washington (25) looks on during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks in Dallas, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Tampa Bay Rays' Jonathan Aranda celebrates a double during the fifth inning of Game 2 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
The WNBA has moved Game 6 of the finals between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries to a 12:30 p.m. tipoff Thursday at the home area of the Atlanta Hawks so that the NBA can keep its previously scheduled primetime contest that day.
The WNBA worked with the NBA to move the game to State Farm Arena, where Games 3 and 4 of the championship series were played.
The Hawks have a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers that night that couldn't be moved to another date or place. The only way they could make it work was to play the early afternoon game. The Hawks game against the Cavaliers was moved back an hour.
“The sellout crowds and extraordinary atmosphere at State Farm Arena for Games 3 and 4 were a tremendous success, and we’re excited to give thousands more fans the opportunity to experience Game 6 with a championship on the line,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Monday. “We thank the NBA, Dream, Valkyries, Hawks, State Farm Arena and USA Network for the collaboration and flexibility that made this move possible. We look forward to delivering another unforgettable Finals experience in Atlanta.”
Game 5 is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT on Monday night in San Francisco.
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase downplayed the difficulty of adjusting to the early tipoff for Game 6.
“What’s amazing is we’re always prepped for anything,” Nakase said. “So we’ve already scheduled. Made it really intentional. Main thing, rest and recover as best we can. We’ve had six games in 10 days during the regular season. So yeah, it’s really not affecting us. It’s just more we can control what we can control and that’s rest and recovery.”
Added Nakase when asked about remaining grounded through the series: “I just think we’re built for this. I think you can throw anything at our team, our organization, and we’re built for it. We like things that are hard for some reason. We love challenges.”
Because the State Farm Arena court will have to be changed for Thursday night’s Hawks game, the floor may have to be cleared quickly even though it could be a celebration for a series clinching win.
“We’re not really thinking about that right now,” Golden State guard Veronica Burton said. “Just focus on this game today and again, control what we can control. So right now it’s just Game 5 mentality.”
By playing Game 6 in State Farm Arena, the Dream can have more than 17,000 fans as opposed to their normal home of Gateway Center Arena, which seats about 3,500. Games 3 and 4 were sold out.
“Super excited that the game will be at State Farm,” Atlanta guard Jordin Canada said. “The crowd has shown up and showed out.”
Dream coach Karl Smesko said the only thing that would change with the early tip was that neither team would have a shootaround.
“I don’t care if we’re playing at 8 a.m., 10 p.m., midnight, we got a championship to win,” Dream guard Allisha Gray said.
It was the third time in the series that the WNBA made accommodations for the Dream to be able to play at the bigger arena. Game 3 was moved up a day to last Wednesday and Saturday’s contest started at 1 p.m. EDT so the Hawks could still host their home opener that night against Houston.
That game was moved back 30 minutes to allow more time for the arena staff to change the building over for the Hawks contest. Now there potentially could be a champion crowned that day so there will be more time between games.
“When we were done (changing the court after Game 4), I texted our CEO and I said ‘Hey, if you need us to do it again, we’re ready to go,'” State Farm Arena chief facilities officer Amanda Mann said.
The NBA and WNBA explored options to keep the game in primetime. Both the Hawks and Cavaliers play Wednesday night, so they couldn't play their game in the earlier time slot Thursday.
Playing the game with the afternoon start time isn't ideal for anybody. It will be tough to sell out the arena and ratings will most likely be lower with the early start. The game will tip at 9:30 a.m. local time in San Francisco.
While the league didn’t know until last Saturday that there would definitely be a Game 6 played in Atlanta, a contingency plan could have been put in place a long time ago by Engelbert and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The eight playoff teams were known in early September, before the women's FIBA World Cup break.
Part of the issue is that unlike the Valkyries, who are controlled by Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, the Dream and Hawks are owned by different groups. Also with NBC and USA Sports broadcasting the games this year, WNBA Finals games are on different nights.
In the past, games wouldn’t be played on a Monday night — like Game 5 will be — because of the NFL contract that ESPN has. They also wouldn’t be played on a Saturday, the day that Games 3 and 7 would be played, because of ESPN’s college football contracts.
See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
Streamers fall from the rafters following the Golden State Valkyries victory over the Atlanta Dream in Game 4 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Atlanta Dream, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Atlanta. (Dan Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
