Ranking The 9 Best Days In Sports

With 365 days a year there are a lot of great sports moments but some days stand tall above the rest. Here we rank the the 9 best days in sports each year and what makes them so special.

The first day of March Madness (the NCAA Tournament) offers endless possibilities. Some holidays are chock full of tradition and incredible match-ups. These are the days we live for as sports fans.

Ranking The 9 Best Days In Sports Each Year

There are a few additional sports days that deserve mentioning but didn’t make the cut of the ‘Best Days in Sports.’ The first one that comes to mind is the day each year when the Toronto Maple Leafs get bounced from the Stanley Cup Playoffs and

9. MLB Opening Day

Some years MLB Opening Day has all the juice. This year, MLB ‘Opening Night’ 2026 falls on March 25th followed by Opening Day on the 26th with all 30 teams taking the mound.

As a lifelong baseball fan, I look forward to MLB Opening Day every single year and when my team is playing at home on Opening Day I’m making sure I get in those seats. For the baseball fans out there who don’t consider Opening Day as one of the best days in sports, I have a theory… There is really no true and proper end to Spring Training.

It just sort of fizzles off. One minute the teams are phasing out the stars from their Cactus and Grapefruit League squads and the next minute MLB action is on TV. Major League Baseball would be wise to hype up a ‘last day of Spring Training’ across the board to help build hype for Opening Day and then it might rise the ranks even further.

8. The Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby falls on May 2nd this year. It will be the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby which is the first leg of Horse Racing’s ‘Triple Crown’ and arguably the most prestigious of the three races (by a lot).

The official first day of Summer is not until June 21st but the Kentucky Derby has always acted as an unofficial start of Summer. Everyone dresses up in their bright colors to enjoy cocktails in the sun. More often than not, the weather is fantastic. Bets are flying left and right. Legends are made on the track and in the paddock.

7. Christmas Day

As of 2025, there were three NFL games on Christmas Day (Cowboys-Commanders, Lions-Vikings, and Broncos-Chiefs). They league rolled out some solid match-ups and set the stage for the future.

The NBA goes HARD on Christmas Day as well. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting around the TV with my family watching Shaq and Kobe in Lakers jerseys on Christmas Day… They always ensure top-tier games get scheduled on 12/25, whether that’s historic teams, the league’s current stars, or all of the above. And they all take place after a full day of opening up presents and eating. What can top that?

6. Thanksgiving Day

The NFL is as much of a part of Thanksgiving as the sides are. You cannot have turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing without knowing the Lions and Cowboys will be on TV at some point during the day.

The Detroit Lions have been included on every Thanksgiving Day dating back to 1934. Let that sink in! Dallas has been playing on Turkey Day since 1966 (except for 1975 and 1977).

In 2025, there were 3 NFL games on Thanksgiving and all three of them set Thanksgiving Day viewership records with the Kansas City Chiefs–Dallas Cowboys game becoming the most watched regular season NFL game in history with 57.2 million viewers. Thanksgiving is easily one of the best sports days of the year no matter how you chop it up.

5. ‘Sports Equinox’ Day

The annual ‘Sports Equinox’ is that special day each year when all four major leagues in the United States are in action on the same day. Having the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL all playing games on the same day typically only happens in October or November, as the MLB Playoffs overlap with the start of the NHL and NBA seasons.

For the diehard sports fan, it is hard to top the Sports Equinox among the best sports days of the year. It offers everything a fan would want. You can even pepper in meaningful soccer matches for fans who want more.

4. Sunday at The Masters

The case could be made that Thursday at The Masters and Sunday are both deserving of this list. In reality, I’d like to add all four days of The Masters to these rankings of the best sports days of the year but we will settle for Sunday at The Masters for now.

You have Jim Nantz’s smooth commentary breaking down the action. The birds chirping in the background. And having gone to my first Masters last year I can finally confirm the birds are real and they are not just pumping in bird sounds for the broadcast. The ‘Augusta’ theme song is like a lullaby that can rock me to sleep on the couch only for me to wake up as Tiger, or most recently Rory, elicits roars on the second 9 from the patrons and etches their names in the annals of golf history.

There is no other sporting event like The Masters. It isn’t just the first Major Championship of the year, it is golf’s biggest event by a mile. Some patrons might spend their entire lives trying to get a ticket in the lottery or if you are like me you have a friend who wins the lottery and invites you… Maybe one day I’ll win and get to go again. I pray it so because I can’t go through life knowing that I only get to go to The Masters once.

3. New Year’s Day Bowl Games

So you had a late night ringing in the new year? Don’t want to do anything but sit on the couch, eat food, and watch football? Well, the powers that be predicted this long ago and created the New Year’s Six bowl game tradition and scheduled out the best College Football bowl games of the year on this special day.

Fun fact, in 2025 the Texas Longhorns became the first program to win all six of the ‘New Year’s Six’ bowl games after Texas won the Peach Bowl. The full list of the New Year’s Six includes the Peach Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Rose Bowl.

One or more of those bowls might get rotated to another day due to the College Football Playoffs and/or National Championship. But the name and the tradition remains just as strong as ever.

2. Super Bowl Sunday

For the life of me I cannot understand why a sitting U.S. President has not named the day after Super Bowl Sunday, or Super Bowl Sunday itself, as a national holiday. It is the most-watched TV broadcast in the United States each year and only continues to smash records. The pre-shows, national anthem, flyover, Halftime Show, commercials, and the game of course, are all must-see TV.

In 2026, an average of 124.9 million viewers tuned in to watch Super Bowl LX. There were 128.2 million viewers who stayed glued to their TVs to watch Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show, a record.

Super Bowl parties have taken on a life of their own. Entire industries exist to craft new dishes for Super Bowl parties. Companies selling chips and dip make more on that day than any other. Pizza sales are through the roof. Super Bowl Sunday could arguably be ranked #1 as the best sports day of the year but at the end of the day it is just one game…

1. First Day of the NCAA Tournament aka ‘March Madness’

At #1 on the list of the Best Sports Days of the Year is the first day of the NCAA Tournament aka the first day of March Madness. Kicking off around noon, it ushers in nonstop action all day and night for 48 hours until the tournament field is halved and the action continues into the weekend.

I’ve been on bachelor parties in Las Vegas that were specifically planned around March Madness so we could post up at the sportsbooks and watch hours upon hours of NCAA Tournament action while betting with the boys. And honestly, it is one of the absolute best ways to do Las Vegas. I have also rented out booths at sports bars with friends and posted up for six straight ours of eating and drinking, gaining pounds along the way.

While the first day of March Madness might lacking in tradition when it comes to appetizers and entrees like Super Bowl Sunday does, it offers up endless possibilities and that puts it on top. For a few brief hours, our brackets are perfect. Spirits are sky high. Everything is right in the world. Even seeing the Cinderella stories upset the favorites gives us something to root for even if busts our bracket. I’m as excited as ever for the first day of March Madness this year, what about you?

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Are there any other days you would add to these rankings of the best sports days of the year? I considered Patriot’s Day in Boston with the first Red Sox home game + the Boston Marathon but that’s a local party. Same with the New York Marathon which is one of the best days each year in NYC but also specific to NYC.

Any I’m missing? Email me anytime at cass@brobible.com to let me know.