The NBA will be suspended on Election Day.
The league schedule for the upcoming season will be for all 30 teams that will play on November 7, the night before the midterm elections. The NBA hopes the teams will use that night as an opportunity to encourage fans to come out and vote, as well as amplify the need for civic participation.
But on November 8th, which is Election Day, no NBA teams have games scheduled. Teams are encouraged to share electoral information – such as registration deadlines – with fan bases in the weeks leading up to November 8.
“The decision to set the date is the result of the NBA family’s focus on promoting nonpartisan civic engagement and encouraging fans to develop a plan to vote during the midterm elections,” the league said on Tuesday.
All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives will be offered on November 8, along with more than 30 Senate seats and gubernatorial races.
The move is rare for the league, which typically doesn’t play any games on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve and tries to avoid scheduling games on the day of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament game — often the first Monday in April. It also has a few holiday days built around the All-Star Game, which takes place in February.
The NBA and its players were openly involved in many election-related motives in 2020, largely as part of the response after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor re-ignited the quest to stamp out racial inequality and police brutality.
Many players including LeBron JamesParticipate in Register to Vote campaigns and other Get Out to Vote initiatives. Some teams have turned their arenas into recording or voting centers.
The full NBA schedule for the season will be released at 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
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