The College Football Championship games for 2018, '19 and '20 were just awarded, and Houston, which bid for all three, was left out in the cold. The news comes less than 24 hours after the city's voters overwhelmingly rescinded an equal-rights ordinance that protected LGBT people from discrimination.
Atlanta, San Francisco Bay Area and New Orleans won the right to host the three games. All three of these locations have anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people.
Whether the College Football Playoffs Administration took this into account may never be known. While some may say, "they couldn't react to a vote in 12 hours," it has been no secret that this vote was coming and that Houston voters could absolutely legalize discrimination. If protection for LGBT people was on the committee's radar, they would have been keeping an eye on the vote, which they knew would take place just before the announcement.
Still, this is the same organization that made the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl part of the playoff rotation even as Chick-Fil-A was embroiled in controversy around its founder's opposition to LGBT equality. At best, the committee sends mixed messages.
The members of the CFPA board of managers and management committee are:
Rodney Bennett – President, University of Southern Mississippi (C-USA)
Anthony Frank – President, Colorado State University (Mountain West)
Burns Hargis – President, Oklahoma State University (Big 12)
Jack Hawkins – Chancellor, Troy University (Sun Belt)
Rev. John Jenkins – President, University of Notre Dame (Independent)
Mark Keenum – President, Mississippi State University (SEC)
Roderick McDavis – President, Ohio University (MAC)
Max Nikias – President, University of Southern California (Pac-12)
Harvey Perlman (chair) – Chancellor, University of Nebraska (Big Ten)
John Thrasher – President, Florida State University (ACC)
Steadman Upham – President, University of Tulsa (American Athletic)
Mike Aresco – Commissioner (American Athletic)
Karl Benson – Commissioner (Sun Belt)
Bob Bowlsby – Commissioner (Big 12)
Jim Delany – Commissioner (Big Ten)
Judy MacLeod – Commissioner (C-USA)
Greg Sankey – Commissioner (SEC)
Larry Scott – Commissioner (Pac-12)
Jon Steinbrecher – Commissioner (MAC)
Jack Swarbrick – Athletics Director (Notre Dame)
John Swofford – Commissioner (ACC)
Craig Thompson – Commissioner (Mountain West)
