Did the Atlanta Hawks Swing Georgia for Joe Biden?

I recognize that this story may be polarizing for OutKick's audience, many of whom support President Trump and do not like the politics of the NBA, but I want to explore the empirical idea of whether the NBA could be credited with helping to swing the election in favor of Joe Biden.

My initial thesis was that there were polling centers in NBA arenas in swing state cities such as Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Detroit. However, upon researching, while the Bucks, Pistons, Suns, and Sixers did big "get out the vote" campaigns, they did not ultimately host polling centers at their arenas.

Then there's the Atlanta Hawks, who hosted a polling center at the State Farm Arena. A spokesperson for the franchise tells OutKick that approximately 40,000 people voted at the State Farm Arena. Currently, Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by about 10,500 votes in Georgia.

The Georgia race is tight enough that there are a number of variables that will ultimately be attributed to swinging it as the results are researched. Of the approximately 40,000 votes at the State Farm Arena, it's quite conceivable that Biden won by a margin that exceeds the margin in the state. However, some of those voters still would have participated in the election without the State Farm Arena, so that makes it more difficult to make a determination that they are definitely responsible for the 10,500 differential in the state.

If the Hawks didn't make the full impact to swing the vote, it's nonetheless reasonable to say that they were a factor.







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Ryan Glasspiegel grew up in Connecticut, graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and lives in Chicago. Before OutKick, he wrote for Sports Illustrated and The Big Lead. He enjoys expensive bourbon and cheap beer.