Rivalry Weekends: Plan a Trip Around the Matchup

Last updated November 2026 · Fixtures and counts pulled from this site's live schedules on November 4, 2026

Some fixtures are worth building the whole trip around. This site tracks 27 classic rivalries across five leagues — and 24 of them still have meetings to play this season, 52 games in all. Here's the next meeting of each one, straight from the schedule data, and how to turn a single rivalry game into a weekend.

The next meeting of every live rivalry

Pulled from our schedules on November 4, 2026. Each rivalry's own page lists every meeting this season — the ones still to come carry ticket links; the ones already played are labeled as played, never sold.

The dates to circle first

Thanksgiving belongs to two rivalries at once: on November 26, 2026, the Bears visit the Lions in Detroit's traditional holiday game and the Eagles visit the Cowboys in Dallas's. A month later, Christmas Day puts the Packers at the Bears at Soldier Field. And the soonest rivalry game on the board is nearly immediate — Mavericks at Spurs on November 5, 2026, with Canadiens at Maple Leafs three days later on November 8.

The three that are waiting on next season

Yankees-Red Sox, Cubs-Cardinals and Dodgers-Giants have no meetings left in the current data — the baseball season in our schedules has wrapped, and the 2027 MLB fixtures aren't published yet. Their rivalry pages are live with the full history of this season's series and both parks' travel guides, and the next meetings will appear there the moment the schedule drops.

How to build the weekend around it

1. Start on the rivalry page: every meeting this season, both venues' guides, and ticket links for the games still to come.
2. Book the rivalry game first — it's the anchor, and it's the seat that sells.
3. Then widen the weekend: run the home metro through the Trip Finder. Rivalry weekends in shared-building cities (Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles) often hide a second game in the same building or across town.
4. Stay near the venue cluster, not the airport — every stadium guide on this site lists the neighborhoods that work.

Questions fans ask

Which rivalry has the most meetings left this season?

Two of them, with four meetings each still to play in our data: Bulls-Pistons in the NBA and Bruins-Canadiens in the NHL. The full table above shows the count for every rivalry.

Do rivalry games cost more?

We don't publish prices — they move constantly, and a number printed here would be stale by the weekend. What the data does say: demand concentrates on these dates, tickets sell earlier, and the weekend around them fills hotels faster. Book the anchor game first, then everything else.

What if a fixture moves after I book?

It happens most in the Premier League, where kickoffs shift for television. North American fixtures are comparatively stable once published. Either way: refundable travel where you can, and check the rivalry page before you fly — it always reflects the current schedule data.