NBA to pause on election day to encourage US fans to vote

The NBA will be off on election day. The league’s schedule for the coming season will have all 30 teams playing on 7 November, the night before the US midterm elections. The NBA is hoping teams use that night as an opportunity to encourage fans to vote, as well as amplifying the need for civic engagement.

But on 8 November, which is election day in the US, no NBA teams have games scheduled. Teams are being encouraged to share election information – such as registration deadlines – with their fanbases in the weeks leading up to 8 November.

“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 on Tuesday.

All 435 US House seats will be up for grabs on 8 November, along with more than 30 US Senate seats and gubernatorial races. The Senate is currently split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.

The move is a rarity for the league, which typically plays no games on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve and tries to avoid scheduling games on the day of the NCAA men’s basketball championship game. It also has a few days off built around the All-Star Game, which takes place in February.

The NBA and its players were openly involved in several election-related pushes in 2020, largely after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor reignited the quest to eliminate racial inequality and police brutality.

Many players, including LeBron James, were involved in voting registration drives and other get-out-the-vote initiatives. Some teams turned their arenas into registration or voting centers.

The NBA’s full schedule for the season will be released at 3pm ET on Wednesday.