Pat McCrory on Tuesday criticized what he described as “economic threats” and “political retaliation”, after the NCAA announced it would move championship events from North Carolina during the 2016-2017 season because of a controversial state law that bans transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice.
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The Republican-backed law, known as House Bill 2 or H.B.
The NCAA Board of Governors, which is comprised of university presidents, voted Monday to move NCAA men’s basketball tournament games in Greensboro and six other events already announced for the 2016-17 academic year.
The 17 NCAA Division I women’s finals in North Carolina are more than in any state.
Andrew Schmidt, executive director of Greenville-Pitt Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, said the bill has made it more challenging for the city to attract visitors.
Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan is speaking out after the decision by the NCAA to move seven championship events out of the state due to HB2.
NCAA President Mark Emmert tells The Associated Press the financial impact on the association for moving championship events and tournaments out of North Carolina on short notice has yet to be determined.
On Tuesday, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton sent out a message on Twitter supporting the NCAA decision. A spokesman with McCrory’s office couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Monday evening, but a spokeswoman with the state Republican party blasted the NCAA’s decision in a statement, saying it is “so absurd it’s nearly comical”.
Ohio State and the city of Columbus have also become frequent hosts of various NCAA events and could add to their impressive docket for the coming years.
A Republican state senator says the North Carolina legislature should consider repealing the law she and other GOP colleagues approved in March limiting anti-discrimination rules for LGBT people and which bathrooms transgender people can use. “. We need to repeal this law and get our state back on track”.
The mayor of Cary – a town which was to host championship events in women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s lacrosse and baseball, but lost all of them to this week’s NCAA decision – said it was time for state lawmakers to re-evaluate the law.
NCAA officials haven’t said where the upcoming championship games will be played.
The president of North Carolina’s public university system called the decision disappointing. Those representatives prohibited to travel could include athletes, coaches and athletic administrators. In July, the National Basketball Association announced it would move the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte to New Orleans.
Vaughan also stated, “If we are not given any bids in the next four years with the NCAA that means that we are going to be in an athletic drought”.
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Then came Paypal, which pulled out of a planned operations center construction in Charlotte, costing the state 400 decent-paying jobs.
