NCAA Says Anti-LGBT Discrimination Could Cost Houston, Indianapolis Future Sporting Events

Upcoming Final Fours Won’t Be Moved, But Future Bids Will Be Impacted

The NCAA has indicated it will reconsider host cities for future sporting events based on whether they have laws protecting LGBT people against discrimination.

Those cities include Indianapolis, which is set to host the NCAA Men’s Final Four in 2021. This week, Indiana legislators introduced an anti-discrimination bill with exemptions so broad that Lambda Legal has called it a “road map for discrimination against LGBT people.”

The Indy Star notes that the Final Four pumped $71 million into the local economy when it was held in Indianapolis this year. 

“We’ll continue to review current events in all cities bidding on NCAA championships and events, as well as cities that have already been named as future host sites, such as Indianapolis,” Bob Williams, NCAA senior vice president for communications, wrote in a statement to the newspaper Nov. 12.

The NCAA, officially the National Collegiate Athletic Association, regulates athletes in over 1200 colleges and institutions for most college sports. Based in Indianapolis, it is responsible for over 450,000 student athletes and took in nearly $1 billion in revenue last year.

After voters in Houston repealed an equal rights ordinance this month, some called on the NCAA to move the 2016 Final Four out of the city. However, the NCAA has said it has no plans to do so. 

Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s vice president for the Final Four, told The Indy Star it will remain in Houston because “it takes years to plan and implement this world-class event.” Likewise, the 2016 Women’s Final Four will remain in Indianapolis. 

The newspaper notes that four of the next five NCAA Men’s Final Fours are scheduled to be held in states that don’t have LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination laws, raising questions about how much lead time is needed to move an event. But the NCAA hasn’t divulged those details. 

“There are many factors in a thorough bid process that the NCAA considers when determining what cities will host the Final Four, including but not limited to local, city and state laws and ordinances,” Williams said in his statement to the newspaper. 

Along with the NFL keeping the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston, the NCAA’s decision not to move the Final Four has led anti-LGBT groups to suggest economic arguments in support of the city’s equal rights ordinance were nothing but a straw man. In fact, one anti-LGBT activist is attempting to flip the equation, launching a petition calling on the Republican Party of Texas to move its 2016 convention out of Dallas, based on the city’s recent decision to strengthen transgender protections. The Texas GOP reportedly has no plans to move the convention, even though many Democrats in Dallas likely would cheer such a decision.

RELATED: Indiana GOP Introduces Nondiscrimination Bill LGBT Group Calls ‘Road Map For Discrimination’

Of course, even if anti-LGBT groups’ straw man allegation had merit, it would amount to the pot calling the kettle black, given that opponents of the Houston ordinance built their entire campaign around the fear-mongering lie that it would lead to men entering women’s restrooms to prey on victims. But the reality is that both Houston and Indiana have undeniably taken major hits when it comes to their national image, and that’s likely to have long-term economic consequences. 

Jessica Shortall, who manages a coalition of Texas businesses that support LGBT inclusion, told The Texas Tribune that business fallout over discriminatory laws is frequently subtle and not quantifiable. 

“On a broader scale, there’s a talent issue to think about,” Shortall said. “Especially when we’re looking at millennials, the brand of a place is something that people who care about attracting talent to a state or region think about.”

After the Indiana Legislature passed an anti-LGBT religious freedom law earlier this year, the NCAA said that even though it kept the 2015 Final Four in Indianapolis, the controversy was “a big deal” that “could lead to significant changes in the NCAA’s relationship with Indianapolis and the state of Indiana …”

The statement was part of an overwhelming backlash from the business community that ultimately prompted the Indiana Legislature to amend the law to include LGBT protections. Similarly, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed an anti-LGBT law in 2014 after the NFL began exploring the possibility of moving the 2015 Super Bowl. 

Although more than 60 businesses endorsed Houston’s equal rights ordinance, the NCAA and NFL were largely silent in the leadup to the Nov. 3 vote. Even if it would have been logistically impossible to move the 2016 Final Four or the 2017 Super Bowl, the NCAA and NFL dropped the ball by not speaking out forcefully and publicly in support of the ordinance. 

In that sense, the NCAA’s recent statements to The Indy Star may be too little, too late for Houston, but perhaps not for Indiana, which typically hosts the Men’s Final Four every five years. 

Hudson Taylor, founder of Athlete Ally, touched on the critical role sports have played in civil rights movements. 

“The most impactful moments in history are the ones when social issues and sports intersected,” Taylor told the newspaper. “When Jackie Robinson stepped onto the playing field. The black power salute at the 1968 Olympics. Those are the moments that change a country.”

 

Image by WFIU Public Radio/Scott Witzke/WTIU via Flickr and a CC license