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Does the ACC Follow the NCAA on HB2? Most Likely, Yes.
Good evening, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) fans.
A couple days again, we blogged about the status of future NCAA tournaments in the State of North Carolina (which, in short, is pretty much based on the repeal of HB2 in North Carolina). For more about that, read our post here. If you asked me today, it’s my prediction that no NCAA tournaments will be held in the State of North Carolina from 2018 to 2022.
And one lawmaker has threatened the tax-exempt status of both the NCAA and the ACC (which is solely based on past and future relocation of postseason events) based on - here’s a link to the proposed legislation.
The NCAA and the ACC have already responded to the proposed legislation:
The complaint would allege that the organizations have “engaged in excessive lobbying activities.”
“Specifically, the NCAA and the ACC have exceeded the scope of their respective charters by using economic retaliation against the State of North Carolina for the purpose of forcing the General Assembly to adopt social legislation that is not connected to the core mission of either the NCAA or the ACC,” the proposed bill states.
“The NCAA has not lobbied North Carolina lawmakers. All conversations that we’ve had with representatives in the state have been designed to provide information about our championships process and timeline, not take positions on legislation,” NCAA officials said in a statement Tuesday.
“When the Board of Governors moved championships from North Carolina last year, it was a clear response to state laws that local communities admitted would make it difficult to assure that our events could be held in an environment that was safe, healthy, and free from discrimination for all those watching and participating in our events,” the statement continued. “Our constitution and values commit us to respecting the dignity of every person. Our decisions reflect those values and our principles have not changed.”
…..
In September, the NCAA pulled seven championship events from North Carolina over issues stemming from House Bill 2 (HB2). This included the first and second rounds of the men’s basketball tournament that were slated to be held in Greensboro.
The organization said championships and events must “promote an inclusive atmosphere for all college athletes, coaches, administrators and fans,” adding that state law made it “challenging to guarantee that host communities can help deliver on that commitment.”
A source close with the ACC had this to say:
Two days later, the ACC announced it was pulling all of its “neutral site championships for the 2016-17 academic year” as well.
A source with the ACC spoke on background to WBTV saying the organization “does not lobby, does not have a lobbyist and is not part of the legislative process.”
You notice that I’m not taking sides here – trying to report what the positions are of the State Legislature, the NCAA, and the ACC are on HB2.
That bring up our question – does the ACC follow the NCAA on HB2 and relocate the conference championship events in 2019 and 2020? If I’m a betting man, I say yes.
I can tell you now that I’d love to have the ACC men’s basketball tournament here in the Washington, DC area in 2020 (h/t @LukeDeCock). THAT WOULD BE AWESOME.
But here’s hoping cooler heads prevail over the next 24 hours in North Carolina.
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Source: http://allsportsdiscussion.com/2017/03/29/does-the-acc-follow-the-ncaa-on-hb2-most-likely-yes/
