ACC Pulls Eight Championships from North Carolina

The Atlantic Coast Conference has pulled eight neutral-site championships from North Carolina during the 2016–2017 academic year, including the December 3 football championship from Charlotte, citing concern over the state’s controversial House Bill 2.

“As members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the ACC Council of Presidents reaffirmed our collective commitment to uphold the values of equality, diversity, inclusion and non-discrimination,” the ACC Council of Presidents said in a statement. “Every one of our 15 universities is strongly committed to these values and therefore, we will continue to host ACC championships at campus sites. We believe North Carolina House Bill 2 is inconsistent with these values.”

New locations for the championships have not been announced. The move comes days after the NCAA also said it would relocate seven of its upcoming championships from the state. The NBA earlier this year announced that it would move its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte to New Orleans.

“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,” ACC Commissioner John Swofford said. “Today’s decision is one of principle, 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. Hopefully, there will be opportunities beyond 2016–2017 for North Carolina neutral sites to be awarded championships.”

The ACC championships leaving North Carolina are:

Women’s soccer, November 4–6, 2016, in Cary

Football, December 3, 2016, in Charlotte

Men’s/women’s swimming and diving, February 15–25, 2017, in Greensboro

Women’s basketball, March 1–5, 2017, in Greensboro

Men’s/women’s tennis, April 26–30, 2017, in Cary

Women’s golf, April 21–23, 2107, in Greensboro

Men’s golf, April 21–23, 2017, in New London

Baseball, May 23–28, 2017, in Durham