Skip to content
THE DEMOCRACY LABS orange and white logo.THE DEMOCRACY LABS orange and black logo.
  • Home
  • Case Studies
  • Resources
  • Partners
  • Press
  • About
  • Donate
    Donate
THE DEMOCRACY LABS orange and black logo.
  • Home
  • Case Studies
  • Resources
  • Partners
  • Press
  • About
  • Donate
    Donate

NBA supports voting. A slam dunk!

DemLabs blog

September 15, 2020

NBA supports civic engagement so more Americans can vote freely.

NBA stadiums won't be empty for long. They won't be filled with cardboard cutouts either. They will be filled with voters.

Vote at the three point line

So far, at least twenty-one NBA teams have agreed to work with local elections officials to make their home venues and arenas hold September voter registration drives and serve as voting locations for the 2020 November election.

This decision came after NBA star players staged a strike during a night of playoff games following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, in Kenosha, WI. The NBA and its player association released a joint statement the following day announcing that their arenas will become voting centers this November:

In every city where the league franchise owns and controls the arena property, team governors will continue to work with local elections officials to convert the facility into a voting location for the 2020 general election to allow for a safe in-person voting option for communities vulnerable to COVID.  If a deadline has passed, team governors will work with local elections officials to find another election-related use for the facility, including but not limited to voter registration and ballot receiving boards.

- NBA, NBPA issue joint statement on social justice and racial equality

BBC story about the role of Black Lives Matter in sports.
BBC story on the role of Black Lives Matter in Sports

The influence of athletes

Athletes have a huge impact as millions of viewers watch a game. "Tuesday’s Game 3, drew an average of 4.65 million viewers to TNT, the NBA said on Thursday. A total 1.85 million men ages 18-49 watched LeBron James scored 36 points. Sunday’s game on ABC was the most viewed NBA game on TV since Christmas day, averaging 5.43 million viewers and a 2.9 rating." - Forbes

The Election Super Centers Project, a nonpartisan initiative to help as many teams as possible work with election officials to transform their arenas into massive voting centers on Election Day, hopes the project will create better access to voting for two to three million Americans this year and change attitudes toward voting. If successful this year, future elections could be carried out at these popular locations. 

In states where the deadline to establish polling sites has already passed, the NBA teams said they were ready to establish voter registration and mail-in ballot drop-off locations at the arenas. At least 16 teams to date have offered their arenas, and several professional football and baseball teams are considering similar plans.

NBA teams step up to support civic engagement.

Sports arenas are ideal venues for election work, especially in a pandemic.

Besides the fact that the arenas are just hands-down cool looking and bring out excitement among entering, they:

  • Allow for hundreds of polling booths while maintaining social distancing.
  • Election observers can watch from the stands.
  • Venues often have big parking structures that accommodate voters.
  • Many arenas are already compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which can be a challenge when local election authorities are hunting for precinct locations.

NBA players encourage fans to vote

Athletes are ideal spokespeople to encourage fans to vote. LeBron James has formed a voting rights group with other stars, while Jamal Murray spoke eloquently about Black Lives Matter after shooting 50 points in a playoff game. They have the power to inspire thousands of Gen Z and millennial fans to vote.

LeBron James: a champ off the court too

"LeBron and his partners have formed an organization called “More Than A Vote” that will not only register black voters for the November election but also teach them how to counter voter suppression tactics. Plus, LeBron said he will use his social media presence, and the organization, to push back against restrictions on the right to vote (which often target minorities).  Forming “More Than A Vote” is taking the next step for LeBron into using his celebrity to build something that can spearhead real change. He is leading a generation of younger athletes willing to take a stand in a way that is reminiscent of legendary black athletes of the 1960s and ’70s but went out of style in the ’80s and until recently.

“Yes, we want you to go out and vote, but we’re also going to give you the tutorial,” Mr. James said. “We’re going to give you the background of how to vote and what they’re trying to do, the other side, to stop you from voting.”

“I’m inspired by the likes of Muhammad Ali, I’m inspired by the Bill Russells and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbars, the Oscar Robertsons — those guys who stood when the times were even way worse than they are today,” Mr. James said. “Hopefully, someday down the line, people will recognize me not only for the way I approached the game of basketball, but the way I approached life as an African-American man.” - NY Times

Jamal Murray

NBA Arena Polling Places/ Voting Centers:

Atlanta Hawks State Farm Arena Voting Precinct
Brooklyn Nets Barclays Center Polling Site
Charlotte Hornets Spectrum Center Early Voting Site
Cleveland Cavaliers RocketLife Mortgage Fieldhouse
Dallas Mavericks American Airlines Center
Detroit Pistons Henry Ford Performance Center*
Houston Rockets Toyota Center
Golden State Warriors (GO WARRIORSSS!!!) Kaiser Permanente Arena*
Indiana Pacers Bankers Life Fieldhouse
LA Clippers The Forum
Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center
Milwaukee Bucks Fiserv Forum
New York Knicks Madison Square Garden
Oklahoma City Thunder Chesapeake Arena
Orlando Magic Amway Center
Philadelphia 76ers Wells Fargo Center
Phoenix Suns Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Sacramento Kings Golden 1 Center
San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center
Utah Jazz Vivint Arena
Washington Wizards Capital One Arena

Takeaway: Encourage influencers to inspire their followers to vote.

Deepak
DemLabs

Image: Nike 'JumpMan' (Michael Jordan) logo adapted for voting image.

2020 election,early voting,NBA arenas,polling locations,Voting

Share this Newsletter:

Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on facebook

Subscribe to DemLabs Bulletin

Donate to DemLabs

DemLabs applies innovative technology and storytelling tools in service of democratic values. It lowers the barrier of funding for worthy candidates and non-profits by applying existing free/affordable solutions.

Copyright © 2023 The Democracy Labs | A Project of the Advocacy Fund | Privacy Policy
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Scroll to Top
[class^="wpforms-"]
[class^="wpforms-"]