NBA won’t play games on Election Day 2022

CHICAGO – In an effort to keep the focus on civic issues and the importance of the day itself, the NBA is making a scheduling change for the 2022-2023 season.

The league announced on Tuesday that there will be no games played on Election Day on November 8th. This comes just a day before the entire 2022-2023 regular season is scheduled to be announced for all teams.

In their news release, the NBA said the 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 day off is part of a bigger push for the league and individual franchises to encourage people to get out to vote in the midterm elections where a number of key races will be run locally and nationally. In the release from the NBA, teams will distribute information on each individual state’s voting processes and registration deadlines.

Per the league’s release, they “are encouraging everyone to communicate this information with families and friends to ensure they all have a plan.”

On November 7th, teams will promote their efforts in civic engagement while also sharing information on where to vote locally around games being played that day.

In 2020, the league didn’t play on Election Day since the 2021-2022 season’s start was delayed till late December due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In previous years, a handful of contests were staged on the day across the league.

The entire 2022-2023 season schedule will be unveiled at 2 PM central time.