“Current North Carolina state laws make it challenging to guarantee that host communities can help deliver on that commitment if NCAA events remained in the state”.
Advertisement
In July, the NBA announced it would move the 2017 NBA All-Star Game because of the law, backed by Republicans, saying it conflicted with the league’s values of “diversity, inclusion, fairness, and respect”. It also excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide antidiscrimination protections.
“If the ACC is interested in relocating championships to Central Florida, we will work with our city, county and venue partners to determine the best way for us to move forward”, said Jason Siegel, interim president and CEO of the Central Florida Sports Commission.
Next could be the Atlantic Coast Conference championship football game.
Besides the men’s basketball games scheduled in Greensboro for March 17 and 19, events involving Division I women’s soccer, Division I women’s golf, Division I women’s lacrosse, Division III men’s and women’s soccer, Division III men’s and women’s tennis, and Division II baseball will be moved from North Carolina to other states.
The ACC Council of Presidents voted Wednesday to relocate the league’s championships until North Carolina repeals the law.
It would have been impossible to conduct championship events in the state with that law in place that lived up to the values and expectations of the member universities and colleges..
“Today’s decision is one of principle”, ACC Commissioner John Swofford said, “and while this decision is the right one, we recognize there will be individuals and communities that are supportive of our values as well as our championship sites that will be negatively affected”.
“The truth remains that this law was never about and does not promote discrimination”, said Republican Tim Moore, speaker of the state House of Representatives. His statement largely mirrored the one he issued Tuesday in the aftermath of the NCAA’s decision.
This is an issue in the midst of a political season that is clearly going to stir a lot of debate and discussion on both sides of the issue, he said.
On a personal note, its time for this bill to be repealed as its counter to basic human rights, said Swofford, whose league office is located in North Carolina.
“I think it was the right decision”.
Mac McCorkle, a Duke University professor and former Democratic consultant, said losing men’s basketball tournament games from Greensboro hits hard because college basketball is the “civic religion” in the state that’s home to UNC, Duke, N.C. State and Wake Forest. And PayPal reversed plans to open a 400-employee operation center in Charlotte.
Scott Dupree, executive director of the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, said the recent announcements by the NCAA and ACC were “unprecedented and historically bad” for the state’s sports event industry.
Advertisement
The North Carolina Republican Party fired back, however.
