Report: NFL to explore moving Super Bowl from Arizona due to SB 1062
Feb 26, 2014, 3:16 PM | Updated: 3:36 pm
PHOENIX — The National Football League is reportedly considering moving the 2015 Super Bowl amid concerns over Senate Bill 1062, which would permit businesses to deny services to gays and others based on religious beliefs.
According to Sports Illustrated, a source said the league may move the game if SB 1062 becomes law.
“It’s a big undertaking and one the league would very much like to avoid,” the source said. “It’d be incredibly logistically challenging to pull it off and no one’s even sure if it’s possible. Some expert would have to make a decision on that at some point, but the game’s going to be played somewhere next year.”
Both the NFL and Arizona Cardinals have publicly denounced the bill.
The final decision would come down to the team owners, who would have to vote to move the game away.
Arizona previously had the 1993 Super Bowl taken away after the state voted down an effort to recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a holiday.
Earlier this week, Arizona Democratic House Minority Leader Chad Campbell said SB 1062 could affect the status of the Super Bowl in Glendale.
“I think that the sports community is going to start looking at this and take a serious second look at whether or not they actually want to have the biggest sporting event in the world hosted in a state that is openly promoting, bigotry and discrimination,” Campbell said, adding that bill really makes the state look bad.
The NFL was also reportedly considering moving the Pro Bowl to Arizona on Tuesday as a way to raise the game’s profile.
KTAR’s Corbin Carson contributed to this report.
