In recent years, the NBA, its players, and teams have become more prominent voices in encouraging fans to vote and be involved in local, state, and national elections. Some organizations have been able to use their arenas as voting locations, while teams and players have held voting registration drives and events to encourage their community to be more civically engaged.
This year, the league as a whole will further that initiative by giving all 30 teams Election Day off, as there will be no games on Tuesday, November 8 to ensure that team employees and fans are all encouraged to take the day to go vote and be part of the election process.
“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, per ESPN.
Election Day now joins Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve as days off on the NBA schedule, with all 30 teams playing on November 7 where they will be using that night to encourage fans to vote the next day. The late start of the 2020 season allowed for teams to use their arenas as voting sites, and now with the knowledge that they won’t have any games that day, they can do the same this year.