When the Atlantic Coast Conference stalked into the same corner of the ring as NCAA and announced that it too would require hosts for conference championship sites to prove their commitment to non-discriminatory practices, it was not a question of whether other conferences would follow suit.
It was a question of when.
An article about the move, originally published in the Greensboro News & Record, detailed the written statement given by ACC president John Swofford.
In an interview with the ACC Digital Network during the league 's spring meetings in Amelia Island, Fla., Swofford said the conference likely would adhere to the same standard the NCAA announced in April.
"Where we are right now is, in essence, where the NCAA is," Swofford said. "We require any site that we're scheduled to go already or any site we're considering to go in the future to provide a statement of the full commitment to fairness, inclusiveness and non-discriminatory practices. … If that is met, then that will suffice."
As North Carolina and the Justice Department remain locked in dueling lawsuits over controversial legislation regarding LGBT rights and the so-called ‘bathroom bill,’ North Carolina’s hospitality and tourism sector is pointing out the economic impact of having tournaments in town -- and tacitly showing just how much the state has to lose.
According to the Greensboro News & Record, the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance announced last week “that the first and second rounds of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, hosted at PNC Arena in Raleigh, generated $4.6 million in direct visitor spending and 9,682 hotel nights.
Greensboro won't host the ACC tournament until 2020 but continues to host the women's ACC Tournament. The Coliseum also will be the site of first- and second-round NCAA men's tournament games in March 2017.
ACC championships have long been based in North Carolina. The ACC’s Football championship game has a long-term home in Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium, and the conference’s basketball tournament is slated to return to North Carolina in 2019 after a three-year absence.”
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