Markell said he finds Arizona’s position on the bill 'puzzling.' Markell: No Super Bowl for Arizona

If Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer allows a controversial bill letting businesses refuse to serve gay customers to become law, the NFL should consider moving the 2015 Super Bowl, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell said Monday.

“If they pass this law and if she signs it, it would seem to me that the NFL may be looking, or should be looking, to move the Super Bowl out of that state,” Markell said on MSNBC’s new “Ronan Farrow Daily” show. “Because, you know, there’s so many places around the country that are welcoming to everybody.”


Markell was speaking with Farrow from the White House after meeting with the president and other governors in town for the National Governors Association meeting. Also present at the meeting was Brewer, who hasn’t yet said what she will do with the bill, which passed the state Legislature last week. If she doesn’t sign it within five days of its delivery to her office, it will become law automatically.

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Both of the state’s Republican senators have urged Brewer, who is also a Republican, to veto the bill.

The 2015 Super Bowl is scheduled to be played next February at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

The NFL has been supportive of standout former college football player Michael Sam, who recently came out publicly as gay and will become the first openly gay player in the NFL if he is drafted this spring.

( PHOTOS: Where same-sex couples can wed)

In addition to suggesting the league move the game, Markell said he finds Arizona’s position on the bill “puzzling.”

“I’ll put it this way; I want to make it clear that Delaware is a very welcoming place,” Markell said. “Four years ago, five years ago, we actually passed a law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. It’s puzzling to me other states would be looking at it differently.”

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