Most major professional sports leagues and their teams marked Juneteenth on Friday, with the NHL and the Detroit Lions the most prominent organizations that did not.
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The NFL observed Juneteenth on social media by resharing posts from member clubs, continuing a recognition the league has extended since Commissioner Roger Goodell formally acknowledged the holiday in June 2020. The NBA and MLB also recognized the day. According to OutKick, the NHL’s league-level social media accounts did not mark the holiday, which would make it the only major professional sports league not to do so — notable given the league had promoted Pride month on social media at the start of June. Individual teams acted differently: the Los Angeles Kings, for instance, posted Juneteenth content Friday.
Within the NFL, OutKick reported that 31 of the league’s 32 franchises posted Juneteenth content, with the Detroit Lions the lone exception. The Lions had acknowledged Pride month on social media — the club released rainbow-colored Pride month gear featuring its lion logo — but did not post on a day significant to many Black Americans.
Nine NFL teams did not post about Pride month when it began June 1 — the New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints — most of which had taken the same approach in 2025. The NFL’s own main accounts, which reach more than 36 million followers on X and 32 million on Instagram, also passed on acknowledging Pride month’s kickoff.
The Texas Rangers remain the only MLB franchise without a Pride Night at their ballpark — the other 29 teams hosted one — but the club did recognize Juneteenth on Friday, posting that the day commemorates the official end of slavery in the United States.
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Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced to enslaved people that they were free. Congress made it a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the legislation.
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