ST. LOUIS — A sports equinox happens when all four major professional sports leagues in the United States play regular-season or playoff games on the same day. That includes the MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL.

It’s not possible for St. Louis to fulfill this feat alone with the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues representing those four leagues. That said, there will be some days in 2023 that could represent a makeshift St. Louis sports equinox.

As St. Louis CITY SC and the St. Louis Battlehawks start their seasons next month, Downtown St. Louis will essentially double its professional sports scene from two teams to four this year. With more teams comes more opportunities for dedicated St. Louis sports fans to not only root for several hometown squads on the same day, but within the same general vicinity.

For a small stretch in April, the St. Louis Cardinals, Blues, CITY SC and Battlehawks will all be playing meaningful regular season games. In fact, St. Louis sports are guaranteed a makeshift equinox, in which all four teams compete on the same day, on April 1 and April 8 this year.

APRIL 1

• Blues @ Nashville Predators (Noon)
• Cardinals vs. Toronto Blue Jays (1:15 p.m.)
• Battlehawks @ Houston Roughnecks (2 p.m.)
• CITY SC vs. Minnesota United FC (7:30 p.m.)

APRIL 8

• Battlehawks vs. Vegas Vipers (Noon)
• Blues @ Minnesota Wild (Noon)
• Cardinals @ Milwaukee Brewers (6:10 p.m.)
• CITY SC @ Seattle Sounders (9:30 p.m.)

It would be pretty epic if all four schedules aligned for home games in St. Louis on the same day. However, that is not the case right now. There might not be a day in which at least three of them play at home at the same time, unless the Blues or Battlehawks push for playoffs past mid-April.

That said, St. Louis fans can support two of their hometown teams at home on these upcoming days. Some will involve a bit of walking and creative planning to catch both.

MARCH 12 – Blues and Battlehawks

• Battlehawks vs. Arlington Renegades (3 p.m.) – HOME OPENER
• Blues vs. Vegas Golden Knights (6 p.m.)

MARCH 18 – CITY SC and Battlehawks

• Battlehawks vs. D.C. Defenders (6 p.m.)
• CITY SC vs. San Jose Earthquakes (7:30 p.m.)

APRIL 2 – Cardinals and Blues

• Cardinals vs. Toronto Blue Jays (1:15 p.m.)
• Blues vs. Boston Bruins (2:30 p.m.)

APRIL 4 – Cardinals and Blues

• Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves (6:45 p.m.)
• Blues vs. Philadelphia Flyers (7 p.m.)

APRIL 16 – Cardinals and Battlehawks

• Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (1:15 p.m.)
• Battlehawks vs. Seattle Sea Dragons (2 p.m.)

MANY DATES – Cardinals and St. Louis CITY SC

• April 1: Cardinals (1:15 p.m.), CITY SC (7:30 p.m.)
• April 15: Cardinals (1:15 p.m.), CITY SC (7:30 p.m.)
• May 20: Cardinals (6:15 p.m.), CITY SC (8:30 p.m.)
• June 11: Cardinals (1:15 p.m.), CITY SC (Noon)
• July 15: Cardinals (6:15 p.m.), CITY SC (7:30 p.m.)
• Aug. 20: Cardinals (1:15 p.m.), CITY SC (8:30 p.m.)
• Aug. 30: Cardinals (1:15 p.m.), CITY SC (7:30 p.m.)
• Sept. 20: Cardinals (6:45 p.m.), CITY SC (7:30 p.m.)
• Sept. 30: Cardinals (6:15 p.m.), CITY SC (7:30 p.m.)

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Kansas City Chiefs are pulling out all the stops as they get ready for playoff mode.

Before the Chiefs went up 21-3 on the Las Vegas Raiders in the final regular season game, the offense’s huddle began moving in a circle before lining up in a formation where running back Jerick McKinnon took the snap.

McKinnon ran right and gave the ball to Patrick Mahomes who threw left to Kadarius Toney and ran it in for a touchdown. The play was nullified by a penalty on center Creed Humphrey.

On the next play, Toney scored on a jet sweep.

After the game, Mahomes said that the team calls the play ‘Snowglobe’ and it was a joke that the offense practiced before head coach Andy Reid installed it into the game plan.

Reid is known for his creativity on offense, especially in the redzone.

The Chiefs have locked up the AFC number 1 seed and will get a first-round bye next week.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals are betting on spring training in Las Vegas.

The organization announced the team will play two games in Las Vegas as part of the 2023 Big League Weekend at Las Vegas Ballpark March 18-19.

On Saturday, March 18, the Royals will field a team in Las Vegas to play the Colorado Rockies. The same day, a second Royals squad will take the field in Surprise, Ariz. to face a second Rockies team.

A similar schedule will take place on Sunday, March 19. The Royals will send a team to Las Vegas to play the Rockies, while another stays in Scottsdale to face the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Times for the games in Las Vegas will be announced at a later date.

Individual tickets to Big League Weekend (Part 2) will go on sale Wednesday, Jan. 11 through www.aviatorslv.com at 2:00 p.m. CT.

The Royals first Spring Training game of the season is scheduled to take place Feb. 24.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The NFL continues its support of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin and the Kansas City Chiefs follow suit.

On Wednesday night, the Chiefs put Hamlin’s name and number on the videoboards at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in his honor.

Hamlin’s recovery is moving in “a positive direction” two days after the Buffalo Bills safety collapsed and went into cardiac arrest during a game against Cincinnati, the player’s marketing representative said Wednesday.

The Bills said Wednesday that Hamlin remained hospitalized in critical condition but displayed signs of improvement on Tuesday and overnight. They said he was expected to remain in intensive care as his medical team continued to monitor and treat him.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and players Patrick Mahomes and Juan Thornhill all spoke their support for Hamlin on Wednesday as well.

“There are a lot of things that you take out of that from a humanity standpoint – we’re all pulling for Damar as he goes forward here,” Reid said.

“I think it impacts everybody. I mean obviously my prayers are with Damar and his family, the Buffalo Bills, the Bengals (and) everybody that was in attendance at the game. It sent chills down my body when I was watching it and all I did was just sit there and pray for him because that’s all you can do when you feel like you can’t help,” Mahomes said.

“It’s really scary. Seeing things like that happen on the football field, knowing that we play the same exact sport as him – I mean it’s a contact sport. It’s scary because it can affect us. It can be us that’s in this same exact situation, so all I can do right now is just pray for Damar and hope that he gets better and hope that it doesn’t happen anymore this season,” Thornhill said.

The Chiefs will be a part of the first NFL game to hit the field since the incident when they face the Los Vegas Raiders on Saturday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs continue to break milestones in the 2022 season.

With a touchdown reception late in the second quarter against the Denver Broncos, Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon became the first running back since 1970 to record a touchdown reception in five consecutive games.

His streak started in Week 13 against the Cincinnati Bengals where he caught a receiving touchdown. He caught two touchdowns the next week against the Broncos in Denver.

He also broke the milestone against the Broncos on a six yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes in the second quarter.

The 30-year-old back has been a revelation for the Chiefs this season and continues to prove his value to the offense.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes continues to etch his name in the record books.

For the second time in only five seasons starting, Patrick Mahomes has thrown for 5,000 yards passing. He reached the milestone as the Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos 27-24.

He puts himself in elite company with this milestone, joining Drew Brees and Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks to throw for 5,000 yards in multiple seasons.

Mahomes even acknowledged his accomplishment postgame.

“It’s really cool if you look at the names on that list. To be a part of a list that has those names on there is a special accomplishment,” Mahomes said.

Mahomes currently leads the league in passing yards and touchdowns and looks poised to collect his second MVP award as the Chiefs gear up for the playoffs.

They will close out the regular season against the Raiders with the time still to be announced.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs are preparing for Christmas Day with a win under their belt.

After the Chiefs beat the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, quarterback Patrick Mahomes gave a little outlook on what his Christmas Day is going to be like.

“We flew all the family up so they’re going to be there at the house and get to enjoy Christmas with everybody and (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid gave us Sunday off, so we have Christmas Day off,” Mahomes said.

“We’ll get to watch football, basketball, everything and so it’s going to be a great day with all the family. I’m trying to do the gingerbread houses and I’m going to be competitive. I’m going to try to win it.”

Mahomes tallied 224 yards passing and three total touchdowns vs. the Seahawks.

While the Chiefs are still waiting for the Buffalo Bills to drop a game to become the number-one seed, the star quarterback is proud of how his team has been playing in the last few games.

“I thought we got better as a team this week. The defense played really good against a really good offense.

“The offense, we executed at some points really well, but we’re going to learn from this and try to get better next week,” he said.

“You want to be playing your best football going into the playoffs and I feel like that’s where we have to continue to get better and better is let’s put that full game together – offense, defense, special teams and I thought we did a pretty good job of it today but we can be even better going into these last two weeks.”

The Chiefs wrap up their season with two games against AFC West foes in matchups with the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — What will the Royals proposed new downtown ballpark look like? Where will it go?

One Kansas City man can answer those questions better than anyone. He and his team have designed the majority of new Major League Baseball stadiums this century.

Earl Santee, Populous Founder and Global Chair, says it’s almost certain to have some sort of skyline view serving as a great backdrop. That’s something that’s become a signature element of Populous’s downtown stadiums.

“This is from Enron Field (now Minute Maid Park) Houston Astros. Drayton McLane signed it for me,” Santee said pointing to one of a dozen bats that line his Kansas City office.

Each is from a Major League stadium he’s helped design. That list has grown most recently with the additions of Target Field in Minneapolis and Truist Park in Atlanta. They are modern ballparks built around fan experiences, both around the ballparks’ concourses and surrounding entertainment and office districts.

“I go to a game now and I’m watching people experience the game more than I’m watching the game itself,” Santee said.

Santee said he learned early on from design of PNC Park in Pittsburgh, location is equally as important as the features of the park.

“Really the most interesting part about site selection is visualizing what’s possible,” he said.

Populous is now consulting with the Royals on a proposed $2 billion downtown 35,000 seat stadium and ballpark district. It’s helped survey 14 potential sites in and around downtown studying both traffic and parking.

Santee said each of those site has a minimum of 14 acres for the stadium itself, and the site selection will have a big influence on the architectural design. But he promises it will have Kansas City features in line with Kauffman Stadium’s fountains and Crown.

“We love what the opportunity may lay in front of us. The city informs what we may do with the ballpark. It tells us what it wants to be, where it wants to be, how it fits in neatly, how it integrates with the community, how it makes it feel like its more than a ballpark.”

Of all the ballparks he’s designed in other communities, last week was the first time he’d been a part of a team listening session.

“When you go through the process its tough, it’s hard. You have to make tough decisions, but every city we’ve done it in have never regretted it. In fact they’ve embraced all the new ballparks across America.” 

There’s still plenty to be ironed out besides site selection, including development agreements and the public financing portion. Santee said design and construction would likely take about 4 years – give or take – depending on which site is chosen.