For the fourth consecutive season, the NBA is clearing its schedule on Election Day to encourage fans to focus on the election and participate in civic duties.
Since 2022, the NBA and its players association have launched “Get In The Game. VOTE.” campaign, which offers fans a full 15-game slate on Monday that broadcasters and players use to spread awareness to fans about the upcoming midterm elections and the value of civic participation. Players across the association also wore warm-up shirts that said “VOTE” during pregame, further promoting fans to make their voices heard.
“Our players understand that their impact extends far beyond the game,” said Erika Swilley, executive director of the NBPA Foundation, in a report by the NBA. “Civic engagement is one of the many ways they lead in their communities and use their platforms to create meaningful change.”
Gen Z players, like the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jared McCain, are using their massive social media followings to mobilize young voters. McCain, who has over 7 million followers on social media, partnered with the NBA for a video skit centered on roommate discussions and ballot prep, urging fans to make a concrete voting plan and ensure their voices are heard.
With more than 50 million Gen Z voters eligible for this election, the NBA and its players association are doubling down on getting young people to the polls. The push isn’t a coincidence. According to Statista, adults ages 18 to 34 make up the league’s largest audience demographic, accounting for 29% of all NBA viewership in 2025.
However, Gen Z also logs the lowest voter turnout of any group. Just 28% of voters ages 18 to 24 cast a ballot in the 2022 midterm elections, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The agency found that fewer than half voted in the 2024 presidential election. That gap is why the league and players’ association are heavily promoting voter turnout, even clearing the entire NBA schedule on Election Day to ensure fans have time to vote.
Joe Saltzman, a USC Annenberg professor specializing in civic engagement and social justice, said it is a shame so few young people vote, especially during such a critical election cycle.
“If you really care about the future of democracy, the future for yourself and your family…this is very important,” said Saltzman. “I think the NBA is saying the same thing: get out there and vote.”
Saltzman said the league is leveraging its massive platform to reach Gen Z voters.
“They’re using all of the media that they have at their disposal. They’re using big-name players to tell their constituency: go out and vote,” said Saltzman. “If your idol is LeBron James and your idol is telling you to go out to vote, I can’t think of anything more persuasive.”
At the University of Southern California campus polling site, student voters said civic duty and the privilege of casting a ballot were their main reasons for showing up, although some acknowledged the power sports can have in encouraging people to vote.
“It probably didn’t really affect me too much to vote. But I do look up NBA games in the morning sometimes,” said Brandon Surpris, a sophomore at USC, referring to the league’s decision to clear its schedule on Election Day. “I probably wouldn’t have had a hard choice still to vote, but I can see how for some people that would be a hard choice if their favorite team’s playing.”
Lorenzo Flores, a sophomore business administration student, agreed that while sports didn’t personally drive him to the polls, the industry carries social weight.
“I do think sports has the audience,” said Flores. “It does have the ability to make an impact in politics.”
While there is no hard, quantitative data proving the NBA’s Election Day schedule clearance since 2022 directly boosted voter turnout, the league and its players are clearly making civic engagement a priority. Because the NBA engages the youngest audience of the four major American sports leagues, the messages it sends have the potential to transform passive sports fans into active voters.
Edited by Ally Nakamura and Jadon Frank