DALLAS (WBAP & KLIF News) — With the NFL warning Texas it could prevent future Super Bowls from coming to the state if legislators pass Senate Bill 6 — the transgender bathroom bill — experts say the league isn’t lying.
Ken Ungar is the president of Charge, a sports marketing firm, and says professional sports leagues don’t bluff very often and take matters of fan inclusiveness seriously.
“It has to protect the inclusiveness in regards to its fanbase,” Ungar said. “So I have a feeling there will not be a game of chicken in this. I would heed the warnings of organizations like the NFL because they mean business.”
He pointed to the NBA and NCAA as examples of sports leagues making venue changes due to issues viewed as discriminatory. The NBA moved the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte due to North Carolina’s similar bathroom bill, and the NCAA has moved championship games away as well.
He even cited an older NFL example, pointing to how the league moved the Super Bowl out of Arizona at the end of the 1993 season because the state didn’t recognize the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.
It eventually did, and Arizona has been awarded two Super Bowls since.
But in terms of economic impact, Ungar says it may not be a risk worth taking for the state. He says Houston brought the state roughly $200 million in revenue after Super Bowl LI earlier this month — something Texas could miss out on if the NFL stands true with its warning.
“The NFL, like other organizations, can have the Super Bowl anywhere it would like,” Ungar said. “There are cities that would kill to have this event in their area.”
To hear a portion of WBAP’s Scott Sidway’s interview with Ken Ungar, click the media player below.
