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NFL Votes continues league-wide voter education, registration, and activism during the 2022 midterm elections

It’s time, once again, to exercise our fundamental right to vote. This is a midterm election year, and the NFL is committed to using its platform and facilities to support this essential element of democracy.

The NFL Votes initiative was founded as a joint effort between the league and the NFL Players Association in August 2020, just ahead of that year’s presidential election. The campaign is a league-wide nonpartisan initiative that supports and encourages civic engagement among NFL players and legends, club and league personnel, and fans.

Before NFL Votes was launched, many (including myself) urged the NFL and other leagues to get more involved in the election process, to use stadiums and arenas for election support and to actively advocate for all citizens to exercise their rights. Credit the NFL for stepping up and using its platform for the cause.

The league’s initiative focuses on three components of the electoral process: voter education, voter registration and voter activation. In 2020, half of the NFL’s stadiums — along with facilities from other sports leagues — were used for election support in some capacity, whether assisting in early voting, ballot reception or Election Day voting. There was a great response to the initial effort in 2020 — one that I’m certainly proud of, even if it was long overdue — with more than 66,000 voters casting ballots at NFL sites.

It was a good start. In fact, a recent study led by a team of scholars — people I worked with as a consultant for their research — showed several positive findings:

  1. Over two-thirds of democrats, independents and republicans “strongly” or “somewhat” support stadium voting and very few members of any group oppose it.
  2. The use of stadiums reduced waiting times for voters — and election workers and poll workers reported having positive experiences at these venues.
  3. Team leadership from the NFL and other pro sports leagues reported “a positive reception from athletes, staff and fans,” suggesting an advantage in fostering fan engagement with the teams involved.