The NFL is warning Texas that if it passes a bathroom bill, similar to North Carolina’s bathroom bill, that it could put future super bowls being played in Texas in jeopardy:
CBS NEWS – The NFL sharpened its warning to Texas on Friday about a “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people, suggesting for the first time that the football-crazed state could miss out on hosting another Super Bowl if the proposal is enacted.
“If a proposal that is discriminatory or inconsistent with our values were to become law there, that would certainly be a factor considered when thinking about awarding future events,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in response to an email question about the Texas bill.
Although the NFL released a statement about inclusiveness earlier this month prior to the Super Bowl in Houston, it didn’t address whether the bill could put future such events at risk for the state.
The NFL has selected future Super Bowl sites through 2021, none of which are in Texas. Dallas hosted the game in 2011 and three Super Bowls have been played in Texas since 2004, which is second only to Florida.
Under the Texas bill, people would be required to use bathrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate. It’s similar to a North Carolina law that prompted the NCAA to pull seven championship events from that state last year and is backed by Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a powerful figure in the state who had cited the Houston Super Bowl as proof that big events will stick around.
Greg Abbott saw this article over the weekend and responded with a fantastic tweet:
“NFL decision makers also benched Tom Brady last season. It ended with NFL handing the Super Bowl trophy to Brady.”
NFL decision makers also benched Tom Brady last season. It ended with NFL handing the Super Bowl trophy to Brady. https://t.co/Qg06jT9RDp
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 11, 2017
LOL! Gotta love Abbott’s apparent resolve on this. He’s not going to back down just because of flimsy threats from the NFL. No, he’s going to do what must be done to protect women and children from bathroom predators. And that’s exactly the right position to take, just as it was in NC.