If voting in person is important to you, see if you can visit your local NBA stadium. Or maybe an NFL facility. Or even baseball!
Sports arenas have become secure ballot return areas; early and election day voting locations; and operation centers for elections officials on Nov. 3. There are almost three dozen listed here.
The Atlanta Hawks were the first NBA team to investigate having their stadium used as a polling location, contacting Fulton County officials in June after the state’s problem-plagued primary.
The Detroit Lions were the first NFL team to announce its facilities would be used to support the November election.
- Atlanta Hawks – State Farm Arena, 300 voting machines for early voting, which is Oct. 12-30
- Boston Red Sox – Fenway Park is one of 27 early voting sites, Oct. 17-30
- Brooklyn Nets – Barclays Center, Oct. 24 – Nov. 1 and Nov. 3
- Chamblee (GA) CORE4 Training Center, owned by Paul Millsap of the Denver Nuggets, open Oct. 12-Oct. 30
- Charlotte Hornets – Swarm the polls; Spectrum Center open Oct. 15-31
- (Charlotte) Carolina Panthers – Bank of America Stadium open Oct. 15-31
- Cleveland Cavaliers – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse polling location on Nov. 3rd
- Dallas Mavericks & Stars – American Airlines Center, early voting, Oct 13 – 30 as well as Nov. 3
- Denver Nuggets – Pepsi Center opens Oct. 30 for in-person voting and ballot return
- Detroit Pistons – the Pistons Performance Center is a ballot drop box location
- Green Bay Packers – Johnsonville Tailgate Village at Lambeau Field on Nov. 3
- Houston Texans – NRG Park is election headquarters for Harris County. Early voting and drive-through drop-off, Oct. 13-30. Voting and drive-through, Nov. 3.
- Indianapolis Colts – Lucas Oil Stadium on Nov. 3
- (Indianapolis) Indiana Pacers – early voting locations; vote at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse on Nov. 3
- Jacksonville Jaguars – TIAA Bank Field ballot dropbox, Oct. 26- Nov. 1
- Kansas City Chiefs – Arrowhead Stadium, Nov. 3
- Los Angeles Clippers & Lakers – the Staples Center is a voting center from Oct. 24 – Nov. 3
- New York Knicks & Rangers – Madison Square Garden is a voting center Oct. 24 – Nov 1 and on Nov. 3
- (Oakland) Golden State Warriors – the Chase Center is a ballot drop-off location Oct. 30 – Nov. 3; the Oakland Facility and Kaiser Permanente Arena located in Santa Cruz are drop-off locations and polling locations from Oct. 30 – Nov. 3
- Orlando Magic – the Amway Center is an voting location, Oct. 19 – Nov. 1
- Phoenix Mercury & Suns – Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a reportedly a ballot drop-off location and early voting center, starting Oct. 24.
- San Antonio Spurs – AT&T Center, early voting Oct. 13-30
- (Salt Lake City) Utah Jazz – voting on Nov. 3rd
- Sacramento Kings – Golden 1 Center, Oct. 24 – Nov. 3
- Santa Cruz (see Oakland)
- Seattle Seahawks – Century Link Field is home to a permanent ballot dropbox and was also open for the primary; it is a general election voting center, Oct. 31, Nov. 2-3
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Raymond James Stadium, voting from Oct. 19 – Nov. 1
- Washington (DC) Capitals, Mystics and Wizards – Capital One Arena, Oct. 27 – Nov. 3
- Washington (DC) Football Team – FedEx Stadium, Nov. 3
Other important uses of stadium facilities:
- Detroit Lions – Ford Field “will host eight of Detroit’s 12 receiving boards, independent groups created to securely take in cast ballots and ensure steps are followed that would allow for any future recount.”
- Memphis Grizzlies – the FedExForum will be used to count ballots on Nov. 3.
Willing sports team but no local government approval
Note: there were a lot of news releases this summer for efforts that did not pan out. If you find a location that I’ve missed, please comment or tag me on Twitter @kegill.
