Due to Rule Change, NCAA Sports Will Be in Action on Election Day

From college football to basketball and soccer, NCAA sports will not go dark on Election Day. 

The phenomenon results from a 2022 NCAA rule change about which activities are allowable on Election Day. 

In 2020, the NCAA implemented a rule prohibiting any Division I teams from holding “countable athletically related activities” on Election Day—including official practices and games—at the behest of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The goal: to give athletes an opportunity to vote. 

But in 2021, the NCAA received at least 15 waiver requests from teams requesting to practice and play on Election Day. So for the 2022 midterm elections, the governing body relaxed its rules, allowing in-season athletes to play games or practice to prevent logistical challenges with scheduling. D-I teams are still required to give players a day off for “civic engagement” either before or after Election Day, however.

So who is playing Tuesday? The Mid-American Conference will have two football matchups in the middle of prime-time election-night coverage Tuesday night: Bowling Green at Central Michigan and Miami (Ohio) at Ball State. 

The league even released a spoof of a political advertisement to promote its typical midweek games. “While everyone else is busy making promises, we’re delivering the MACtion,” the video said. The montage of MAC football highlights and American imagery ended with commissioner Jon Steinbrecher saying he “approved” this message.

College basketball, which tipped off Monday, will also be in action. More than two dozen D-I games, both men’s and women’s (including No. 9 NC State, No. 14 Ohio State, and No. 16 West Virginia), will be played Tuesday night. So will Olympic sports, like men’s and women’s soccer.

Casting a vote could be more difficult for an athlete with a full day of classes and a game at night. But the policy may not impact everyone, especially athletes registered in other states who vote absentee. Seventy-eight percent of D-I athletes said they are planning to vote in this year’s election, according to an NCAA survey released Nov. 1.

But for basketball players, in particular, the rules require more from NCAA “amateur” athletes than their professional counterparts: For the third year in a row, the NBA will not have any games on Election Day.