The NBA announced Tuesday that no games will be held on Nov. 8 to promote voting in the midterm elections.
All 30 NBA teams will play on Monday, Nov. 7, but no team will play on Tuesday, the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition said. Home teams are expected to host special election-themed fan nights during the Monday games, according to NBC News.
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“We don’t usually change the schedule for an external event,” said James Cadogan, the executive director of the coalition. “But voting and Election Day are obviously unique and incredibly important to our democracy.”
The decision to nix Election Day games is unusual, but the NBA has been becoming more politically minded in recent years. In 2020, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the league worked with the cities of teams to use 23 sporting arenas as early voting and Election Day polling sites. Facilities were also used for processing ballots and as drop-off locations and spaces to recruit and train poll workers.
The NBA added that it is working with cities again to again repurpose facilities for election-related activities, NBC News reported.
The league also established the social justice coalition with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020.
The league said the change is not a partisan move but is rather geared toward promoting civic engagement regardless of political party.
“The scheduling decision came out of the NBA family’s focus on promoting nonpartisan civic engagement and encouraging fans to make a plan to vote during midterm elections,” the league said Tuesday.
The NBA today announced that no games will be played on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
The scheduling decision came out of the NBA family’s focus on promoting nonpartisan civic engagement and encouraging fans to make a plan to vote during midterm elections. https://t.co/nFiEHlws0Q
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) August 16, 2022
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The league had been tapering off how many teams played on election night in previous years. Eight teams played on the day of the 2018 midterm elections, 12 teams had games scheduled in 2016, and 16 teams competed on Election Day in 2014, according to NBC News.
The league’s full schedule will be released Wednesday at 3 p.m., according to ESPN.
