There will be no NBA games on Election Night.
The NBA announced Tuesday that it will not schedule any games for Tuesday, November 8, the date of the midterm elections. Other than the All-Star break, it will be just the fourth scheduled off day in the NBA season — joining Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and the night of college basketball’s national championship.
The league says its decision is intended to encourage “nonpartisan civic engagement.”
The decision to skip Election Day is a first in U.S. major league sports (with the caveat that the Major League Baseball season is usually over by Election Day and the NFL does not schedule games on Tuesdays). The NBA has typically scheduled a full slate of games on the day and even opened its season on Election Night 2004 — a presidential election year. There were no NBA games on the previous Election Night two years ago as the league was in its offseason due to the late finish of the previous season.
In past years, skipping Election Night would not have an impact on the NBA’s national TV schedule. Last season, TNT began airing Tuesday night games in the winter months to avoid competition with NFL Thursday Night Football — meaning the network would have a potential week off just three weeks into the season.
The full NBA schedule is set to be announced Wednesday afternoon. The league’s full Christmas Day schedule has leaked, with Sixers-Knicks, Bucks-Celtics and Suns-Nuggets joining the previously reported Lakers-Mavericks and Grizzlies-Warriors games.
(News from NBA)
