ESPN is reporting that Central Florida is interested in hosting all eight ACC Championship events that are being moved out of North Carolina due to the state’s controversial HB2 law.
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WFMY News 2 spent Wednesday in Raleigh trying to get Governor Pat McCrory on the record over NCAA and ACC decisions to pull championship games from North Carolina of House Bill 2. According to an Associated Press report, that will affect 10 neutral-site events during the current academic year, including the ACC football championship game, which had been scheduled for Charlotte in December.
The announcement follows the NBA’s decision in July to move the 2017 All-Star game out of the state, and the NCAA’s announcement Monday that it would relocate championship games planned for the 2016-2017 season out of the state. Cary will lose ACC women’s soccer and and men’s and women’s tennis tournaments, and the ACC baseball tournament will be moved from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Without mentioning the ACC, McCrory urged public and private institutions to let the issues take their course in court and avoid “economic threats or political retaliation” against states challenging the law.
The NCAA has asked Kennesaw State if it would consider submitting a bid to host the relocated women’s soccer and lacrosse national championships, athletic director Vaughn Williams confirmed Wednesday.
“Certainly, the president agrees with the values that were articulated by the leaders of both the ACC and the NCAA when they talked about their commitment to equality and justice for every American”, Earnest said. It is the only state law that prohibits transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice in government buildings, including schools.
ACC Commissioner John Swofford said that “opposition to any form of discrimination is paramount”, but realized the impact the decision will have. “Hopefully, there will be opportunities beyond 2016-17 for North Carolina neutral sites to be awarded championships”. The championship game has been played at Bank of America Stadium for the last six seasons, with an average attendance of 69,641.
The ACC has made a decision to relocate its neutral site championships scheduled in North Carolina due to its House Bill 2 that requires citizens use the restroom in association with the gender on their birth certificate.
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The ACC and NCAA decisions have been a blow to North Carolina’s tourism and business communities, which rely on servicing fans attending major sporting events. But Tim Moore, the speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, said the decisions were “very unfortunate”. HB2 was signed into law this year by Gov.
