Chicago teacher visiting every FBS stadium while bridging gap between LGBTQ+ community, sports world

A Chicago teacher is hard at work on his quest to visit every NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision stadium in America, while also strengthening bonds between the sports world and the LGBTQ+ community.

Andrew Bauhs wasn't always in love with the college football experience.

"I wound up being dragged to a bunch of Wisconsin Badger football games, and I hated them," he recalled. "But they started to turn their program around in the early 90s, and I watched a once dormant stadium come to life. I began to see the passions, the traditions, the pageantry, the mascots, the marching bands, everything that makes college football special, and I was hooked."

Shortly after that, Bauhs decided he was going to try to complete a pretty daunting quest: visiting every FBS stadium in the United States.

"I've been to 125 of the now 138. They keep extending my finish line. When I started this thing, it was at 117. I feel like the tour is running me now, and I'm not running the tour, but I'm having a great time," he said.

Bauhs has documented every step of the journey on his website, collegefootballtour.com, and for Sports Illustrated as well.

But there's more to this crusade: Bauhs is gay and, with his husband Olin along for much of the ride, they're not only bringing their experience to people, is trying to bridge a gap as well.

"Sporting events have a unique ability to bring people from all backgrounds together, people who wouldn't normally gather together, are," he said. "When I go to certain areas of the country, particularly those that are less permissive to the LGBTQ+ community. I'm mindful of this, and I take it as an opportunity. I begin talking with people at tailgates I've invited to about sports the first five minutes. I will casually talk about my husband, or my husband will come up to me. We'll talk a little bit and a few eyebrows raise or a few jaws drop, but it's an opportunity to break down those walls."

And he said for the most part, no matter what stadium or what part of the country they've traveled to, the reception has been mostly positive.

"We were at Auburn. Olin was filming me, and he had a pride sticker on the back of his phone. This guy who just didn't seem like he was ready to say very much was very excited to come up to us and say, 'oh my gosh, I am gay. It is so great to see some other gay sports fans around here.'" Bauhs recalled. "The most important thing in the LGBTQ+ community is visibility. Normalizing the community. The people who are against pride nights are why we have pride nights."

And Bauhs takes a lot of pride in what he's been able to do as his journey nears its end.

"I think when it's over, I'm just going to look back and be amazed at what I accomplished. Very few people have done this. I'm looking so forward to being able to take this and use it to explore other avenues in the world of sports. And to return to some of favorite haunts, but also to see what's next. What's the next chapter? I'm excited about it," he said.

Bauhs has plans to hit 10 new stadiums in the coming college football stadium, which would put him at 135 out of 138. He plans a big celebration when he expects to complete this long journey in 2027.