NCAA agrees state eligible to host events
Rollback of ‘bathroom bill’ wins lukewarm nod for North Carolina
GLENDALE, Ariz.—The NCAA has “reluctantly” agreed to consider North Carolina as a host for championship events again after the state rolled back a law that limited protections for LGBT people.
The governing body said Tuesday its Board of Governors had reviewed moves to repeal the “bathroom bill” and replace it with a compromise law. The NCAA offered a lukewarm endorsement, saying the new law “meets the minimal NCAA requirements.”
The organization had been a key opponent of the original law. Its events carry major economic power: The North Carolina Sports Association had estimated more than $250 million in potential losses from 130 event bids submitted to the NCAA.
The NCAA statement said a majority of the board “reluctantly voted” to allow for consideration of bids from North Carolina during current deliberations for sites running through 2022. Events for the 2017-18 season that have already been awarded to the state— such as opening-weekend men’s basketball tournament games in Charlotte—will remain in place.
“We are actively determining site selections, and this new law has minimally achieved a situation where we believe NCAA championships may be conducted in a nondiscriminatory environment,” the statement said. “If we find that our expectations of a discrimination-free environment are not met, we will not hesitate to take necessary action at any time.”
The NCAA pulled seven events from the state in September for the 2016-17 season, including men’s basketball tournament games from Greensboro in March. Those games were moved to Greenville, South Carolina, which had been banned from hosting events for years before that was lifted following the removal of a Confederate flag from state capitol grounds in 2015.
The NCAA’s North Carolina ban didn’t affect teams that earn home-court advantage during the season, such as the Duke women’s team hosting NCAA tournament games in March.
The NBA will discuss whether to bring the 2019 All-Star Game to Charlotte at its Board of Governors meeting this week, according to a person with knowledge of the plans. The league moved this year’s game from Charlotte to New Orleans because of the law.