NCAA won't force the ACC to move championship game from North Carolina

ACC commissioner John Swofford (Getty Images).

 

The ACC might decide to move its football championship out of North Carolina, but it won’t be at the behest of the NCAA.

	Ralph D. Russo @ralphDrussoAP
Mark Emmert on the ACC, and other conferences, holding events in North Carolina: "That's going to be completely up to the conferences." 7:29 AM - 13 Sep 2016

On Monday, the NCAA announced it was moving all of its championships out of North Carolina because of House Bill 2 (HB2), a state law that requires transgender people to use public bathrooms that matches the gender on their birth certificates not the gender with which they identify. Critics claim the bill violates the civil rights of members of the LGBTQ community.

The ACC said following its spring meetings in May that it wasn’t ready to move its championship site from North Carolina, but noted that the membership would revisit the issue during fall meetings depending on what happened with the bill during that time frame.

The North Carolina General Assembly refused to repeal HB2 during its last session in July and won’t meet again until January.

“The decision by the NCAA Board of Governors to relocate all current, and not award any future, NCAA Championship sites in the state of North Carolina continues to build upon the negative impact this bill has already had on the state,” ACC commissioner John Swofford said in a statement late Monday evening. “HB2 was previously scheduled to be thoroughly discussed at this week’s ACC Council of Presidents meeting, so it would be premature to make any decisions or announcements regarding ACC Championships until our membership is able to discuss. The league’s longstanding commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion will continue to be a central theme to our discussions.

“On a personal note, it’s time for this bill to be repealed as its counter to basic human rights.”

North Carolina is essentially the epicenter of the ACC. The league offices are there and four of the conference’s teams come from that state. The ACC Championship is scheduled for Dec. 3 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. The city and the ACC have a deal that keeps the championship game in the city through 2019.