NHL and Detroit Lions skip Juneteenth posts after Pride month recognition

Most major professional sports leagues and their teams posted Juneteenth content on Friday. The NHL and the Detroit Lions did not post at the league or club level. The NFL reshared posts from member clubs on its social media accounts. The NBA and MLB also recognized the day on league accounts.

The NHL's league-level social media accounts did not mark the holiday. The league had promoted Pride month on social media at the start of June. Some individual NHL teams posted Juneteenth content. The Detroit Lions did not post Juneteenth content. The club had released rainbow-colored Pride month gear featuring its lion logo earlier in June.

Other teams OutKick reported that 31 of the NFL's 32 franchises posted Juneteenth content. Nine NFL teams did not post about Pride month when it began June 1. The NFL's main accounts, which reach more than 36 million followers on X and 32 million on Instagram, did not acknowledge Pride month at the start of June.

One MLB team remains the only franchise without a Pride Night at its ballpark, but it posted Juneteenth content on Friday. Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when Union Army Maj. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced to enslaved people that they were free.

Congress made it a federal holiday in 2021.