Clocks turning back won’t make up for a World Series worth of late nights: expert

By Canadian Press on October 31, 2025.

TORONTO — Bleary-eyed Blue Jays fans may be looking forward to an extra hour of sleep when they turn the clocks back on Sunday, but an expert says it won’t be enough to make up for a World Series worth of late nights.

Patricia Lakin-Thomas, a biology professor at York University who studies circadian rhythms, says the hours-long games that start as late as 8 p.m. ET have likely thrown many sports fans’ internal clocks out of whack.

She says maintaining a regular sleep schedule is crucial for keeping important internal cycles synchronized, so those who stayed up to watch all 18 innings of Game 3 of the series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers may still be feeling it.

And while Lakin-Thomas says the additional hour of sleep that comes when daylight time ends and standard time begins will help a little, it won’t be enough to wipe out all the “sleep debt” baseball fans have accumulated.

She says people need about a half-hour of sleep to make up for each hour lost, so those who stayed up an extra four hours to watch Game 3, which ended at 3 a.m. ET, might need two extra hours of slumber in the following nights to recover.

So those who are staying up later than usual to watch all the games, including those in the Atlantic time zone where games regularly end after midnight, will need far more than the measly hour offered by Sunday night’s time change.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2025.

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press