For the fourth time in the last five years, the NBA will not play any games on Election Day, citing a desire to encourage fans to exercise their right to vote.
“No games have been scheduled for Election Day as the league will encourage fans and the broader NBA community to make a plan to vote and to participate in the civic process,” the league wrote in a press release in August, as reported Tuesday by Sports Illustrated. “All 30 teams will be in action on the day before Election Day (Monday, Nov. 2).”
According to Tom Dierberger of SI, Election Day marks one of the rare days on the 2026-27 season calendar with no NBA games. Historically, the NBA doesn’t have games on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, which is the case again this year. In addition, the NBA won’t be in action this season from Feb. 19 to Feb. 24 for the league's All-Star break and April 10, the penultimate day of the regular season.
Other U.S. leagues will play games Tuesday. There are 11 games scheduled in the NHL as well as two Mid-American Conference games in college football: Ohio-Akron and Buffalo-Miami (Ohio).
“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 2022 statement, the first year it went dark on Election Day. Two years prior, 14 NBA teams had lent their arenas and practice facilities as polling places.
“It’s unusual. We don’t usually change the schedule for an external event,” James Cadogan, the executive director of the NBA’s social justice coalition, said in 2022. “But voting and Election Day are obviously unique and incredibly important to our democracy.”
Per Dierberger's reporting, the NBA held six games last year (Tuesday, Nov. 4) in what was an off-year Election Day that included two governor races and mostly local elections. "The league plans to continue sitting out games on Election Day in years of midterm or Presidential elections," Dierberger wrote, adding the league will stage 14 games Wednesday.
