NBA Won’t Play on Election Day 2022 To Encourage Midterm Voting

While the NBA generally makes headlines for games it plays on marquee dates — such as Opening Night and Christmas Day — its latest schedule update is notable for a date that won’t feature game action.

The league will not play any games on Nov. 8 — 2022’s Election Day in the United States.

Instead, all 30 NBA teams will play games the night before on Nov. 7. It’s part of the league’s plans to promote civic engagement.

• Each home team will host an “election-based themed fan night” at the contest, per NBC News.
• The league office is also encouraging franchises to provide voting resources to fans in the weeks prior.

All 435 U.S. House seats are up for election in the midterm elections, as well as over 30 U.S. Senate seats and several governorships.

NBA Social Justice Coalition executive director James Cadogan emphasized the importance of promoting civic participation to the league’s social justice initiatives.

“We don’t usually change the schedule for an external event,” he told NBC News. “But voting and Election Day are obviously unique and incredibly important to our democracy.”

The full 2022-23 NBA schedule will be released on Wednesday.