“Every night is election night on the sports desk”

“Every night is election night on the sports desk” is a saying popular at the sports departments of newspapers and television stations. Election night is a busy night for news; the saying implies that there’s always something happening in sports.
 
“In the sports department’s world, ‘every night is election night’” has been cited in print since at least 2002.
 
   
Google Books
Iron Editor:
How to Save Newspapers from Advocacy Journalism
By Michael A. Raffaele
Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc.
2002
Pg. 73:
In the sports department’s world, “every night is election night.”
 
Google Books
No Time Outs:
What it’s really like to be a sportswriter today
By Christopher J. Walsh
Lanham, MD: Taylor Trade Pub.
2006  
Pg. 10:
We had an adage at my first paper: “Every night is election (or war) night in sports.”
   
Sports Journalists Forum
CentralIllinoisan:
Quote from: Dude on November 07, 2006, 03:22:32 AM
And what’s your standard comeback for all the snide “sports guys don’t really work” comments from newside? I’m looking for something a little bit fresher than, “It’s election night every night in sports.”
   
While Rochester Slept
Election night can be busy, depending on your perspective
Posted by Chad Roberts • October 29, 2008 • 7:02 am
(...)
There is an old saying in sports departments all over the country — possibly the world:
 
“You know what election night is called in the sports department? It’s called EVERY NIGHT.”
 
Google Books
Professional Feature Writing
By Bruce Garrison
New York, NY: Routledge
2010
Pg. 124:
Every night is election night in the Sports department.
 
Business Insider
AP Will Tell Baseball Stories Two Ways To Help Local Papers Cover Road Games
Andrew Phelps, Nieman Journalism Lab | Mar. 16, 2011, 12:10 PM.
As the old saying goes in newsrooms, every night is election night on the sports desk.