The Atlantic Coast Conference (#ACC) has followed in the steps of the NCAA and removed neutral-site championship events from the state of North Carolina for the 2016-17 academic year.
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The Atlantic Coast Conference is pulling multiple collegiate championship games from North Carolina over its controversial anti-LGBT bathroom law.
“The ACC Council of Presidents made it clear that the core values of this league are of the utmost importance, and the opposition to any form of discrimination is paramount”, said John Swofford, conference commissioner.
The decision covers eight neutral-site championships, from women’s soccer to swimming and diving and from football to golf and baseball. For more than 60 years, ACC headquarters have been located in nearby Greensboro, which is also where early rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament would have been held in March before the decision.
The conference title game opened in Jacksonville in 2005 and was played in Tampa, Florida from 2008-2009 before moving to Bank of America Stadium – where it has remained for the past six seasons. “Intercollegiate sports and the ACC are integral parts of North Carolina’s economy and way of life”.
“We have seen private sector businesses and athletic organizations announce their intent to take their business elsewhere outside the state of North Carolina”, Earnest said. The ACC planned to hold 14 of its 21 championship events in North Carolina this academic year, 10 of them at neutral, off-campus sites and the other four on the campuses of Wake Forest (field hockey), Duke (fencing), North Carolina (softball) and North Carolina State (wrestling).
Gov. Pat McCrory frames the debate over North Carolina’s law about transgender people and restrooms as one of common sense and safety and privacy.
“We appreciate the Council of Presidents’ reaffirmation of the ACC’s strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as the decision to keep ACC championship contests on our campuses”.
McCrory and his allies blame the Human Rights Campaign, the “sports and entertainment elite” and Democrats for conspiring to make an example out of North Carolina on LGBT rights.
The ACC’s decision affects only games at neutral sites, not games hosted by universities.
The NBA moved its All-Star game, scheduled for February of 2017, from Charlotte to New Orleans. Camping World Stadium, where the football championship would be played, is already set to host the Florida High School Athletic Association football championships on the weekend of December 3.
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It’s safe to say that HB2 is costing North Carolina – particularly businesses there that rely on these big events, and the employees of those businesses – millions upon millions of dollars.
