After HB2 Hiatus, ACC Baseball Returns to the Triangle

After the infamous HB2 legislation decimated much of the sports events industry across North Carolina during 2016 and 2017, the law was repealed this spring and sports groups, associations, and rightsholders began to return events to the state. The Atlantic Coast Conference announced that its previously-awarded championships, including the ACC Baseball Championship, could again be held in North Carolina.

The ACC Baseball Championship had been awarded to Durham for four consecutive years, 2015-2018. The tournament was moved to Louisville in May of this year as part of the national "sports boycott" of NC due to HB2. In making its announcement of the return of the Baseball Championship to Durham, the ACC awarded the event for the final two years remaining on the Host City Agreement, meaning both the 2018 and 2019 Championships will be held Memorial Day Weekend of those years at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

"We are so delighted to have ACC Baseball back in the Triangle," said Hill Carrow, CEO of the Triangle Sports Commission. "Unfortunately HB2 essentially wiped out major sports events in the state for over a year which severely damaged the reputation of the state as well as local economies that depend heavily on such events. The return of the championships will help us begin to repair some of that damage and start to rebuild North Carolina's major sports events industry."