One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
To Encourage Fans To Vote, The NBA Won’t Hold Games On Election Day
The NBA won't hold any games on Nov. 8 to encourage fans to vote.
(
Jeenah Moon
/
Getty Images
)
The NBA won't hold any games on November 8 — Election Day for the 2022 midterms — in an effort to encourage fans to vote.
"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 in a tweet.
The NBA says over the next few months, teams will provide information on their state's voting process and voter registration deadlines to help fans make a plan to vote.
The announcement was first reported by NBC News.
Additionally, the Monday before Election Day, the league's 30 teams will play in games to promote civic engagement and to also encourage fans and staff to vote.
"It's unusual. We don't usually change the schedule for an external event," James Cadogan, executive director of the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition, told NBC. "Voting and Election Day are obviously unique and very important to our democracy."
Sponsored message
This isn't the first time the NBA has taken steps to get involved in voter turnout.
In 2020, the league announced it was converting a number of arenas into polling locations for the presidential election. The decision was part of an agreement to resume games after players staged a walkout in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
NBA star LeBron James also launched an initiative the same year to protect voting rights.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit npr.org.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
