Monumental Sports & Entertainment Celebrates National Voter Registration Day and Champions all Efforts to Increase Civic Participation – Monumental Sports

Washington, D.C. (September 17, 2024) – Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) marks National Voter Registration Day with a reminder on the power of voting to uplift individual voices and to shape our broader community. MSE has a history of investment in civic engagement activities to make it easier for fans to stay informed, register to vote, and be reminded to turnout in elections every election cycle. And it’s been proud to partner directly and through its team franchises with nonpartisan, nonprofits who are engaging in this important work throughout communities.  

For the upcoming 2024 election cycle, several of MSE’s sports team franchises are engaged in tactics and partnerships to increase voter participation, building on years of previous civic engagement work. All teams, including the NBA’s Washington Wizards, WNBA’s Washington Mystics and NHL’s Washington Capitals will be amplifying voting efforts on their social media platforms in support of National Voter Registration Day, September 17, 2024.  

• DMV Votes: The NBA’s Washington Wizards will be celebrating their voter-oriented theme-night on Saturday, October 26th vs the Cleveland Cavaliers where the team will wear specialized shooting shirts during pre-game warm-ups to promote voter awareness. The Wizards have remained committed to their DMV Votes initiative which began in 2022, focusing on increasing registration, education, and participation across the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV). Additionally, the Wizards will distribute exclusive Wizards DMV shirts at community events to promote civic engagement and voter turnout.

• Voter-Oriented Theme Nights: The Mystics are promoting civic engagement by setting up tables on Tuesday, September 17th against the New York Liberty and during the Indiana Fever game on Thursday, September 19th for National Voter Registration Day. Players will also wear special ‘VOTE’ warm-up shirts to raise awareness of the importance of participation.  

• The Mystics have invited local D.C. radio station WKYS to engage fans with small prizes and promote voter registration for the surrounding communities.  

• Vet the Vote: The Wizards are partnering with Vet the Vote in their recruitment effort calling on our nation’s veterans and military families to once again serve their communities as poll workers. The Wizards have helped produce PSAs for social media rotation on the Wizards’ platforms to amplify the organization’s efforts and mark the mailing of the first batch of ballots to military and overseas voters on September 21st.   

• League of Women Voters: This year the WNBA’s Washington Mystics have chosen the League of Women Voters (LWV) as its civic engagement partner and has donated proceeds from the WNBA’s Commissioner Cup tournament to the voting-rights organization. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan voting rights organization that empowers and encourages voter engagement. The League of Women Voter’s Vote 411 campaign has served to support the Mystics’ efforts to inform, register, and mobilize fans in preparation for the November general election through its online election resource, VOTE411.org/mystics.  

• Additional Partnerships: The Wizards have also partnered with other nonprofits locally and nationally including Black Girls Vote, Power the Polls, When We All Vote, Poll Worker Recruitment Day to support their work in communities. A full list of information and resources can be found at: www.nba.com/wizards/votes.  

In 2022, MSE partnered with HeadCount, the non-partisan, nonprofit and engaged tens of thousands of fans through 150 events, netting more than 3,000 individual civic actions, which included checking voter registration status, finding polling locations, tracking ballot submissions, contacting lawmakers, and registering to vote. In all, hundreds were registered to vote because of this work. 

MSE and its teams have long championed civic participation and remain committed to encouraging DC, Maryland, and Virginia residents to join in their efforts. The Mystics have held voter registration drives at their community events, used their social media platforms to remind fans of the importance of voting and players volunteered at the HeadCount voter registration table ahead of the 2022 midterm election. At their Vote Night game in 2022, the Wizards debuted custom ‘DMV Votes’ shooting shirts – becoming the first in NBA to emphasize voting in pregame warm-ups. That same cycle, the Capitals launched a voting hub featuring election information by state and used their social media platforms to encourage fans to exercise their right to vote. 

During the 2020 election cycle, Capital One Arena served as an early voting location, a ballot drop-off location and an in person, Election Day voting site. The Entertainment & Sports Arena also served in the same capacity. Nearly 4,500 people voted in-person at Capital One Arena and Entertainment & Sports Arena during Early Voting and on Election Day – with thousands more who used the secure drop boxes at both arenas. 

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About Monumental Sports & Entertainment 

Monumental Sports & Entertainment is America’s leading sports and entertainment family. Our people, players, teams, and events bring excitement and joy to millions. We invest and innovate to consistently raise the game so we can deliver extraordinary experiences that will inspire and unite our community, our fans, and our people. To learn more, please visit www.monumentalsports.com.