NCAA Ends North Carolina Boycott, Brings Games Back To The State

CHARLOTTE, NC — Three weeks after issuing an ultimatum to North Carolina lawmakers to end the controversial HB2 “bathroom bill” that helped lead to the law’s repeal, the NCAA has ended its boycott of the state by adding it to its future tournament schedule.

Earlier in April, the sports body said it had “reluctantly” decided that the state’s undoing of its HB2 “bathroom bill” law in the wake of that ultimatum was sufficient to undo its championship game boycott.

The NCAA announced April 18 that Greensboro, North Carolina, would host regional games in 2019, as well as first- and second-round men’s basketball games in 2020. The Greensboro Coliseum has hosted 63 NCAA men’s tournament games, most recently in 2012.

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The announcement comes as civil liberty advocates continued to ramp up pressure on the NCAA to maintain its boycott of the state when planning its future national sporting events. Central to their argument is that the North Carolina General Assembly’s attempt to “repeal” the HB2 law through passage of another law unjustly prohibits cities in the state from issuing their own protections for transgender citizens to use restrooms. This new law, HB 142, “has the potential to set a dangerous precedent for other states if powerful organizations like the NCAA give them their blessing,” ACLU Advocacy and Policy Counsel Eunice Hyon Min Rho said April 14.

Earlier in April, the NCAA indicated it was far from thrilled by the General Assembly’s actions to do away with the law.

“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 NCAA said in a statement April 4. The NCAA Board of Governors “reluctantly voted to allow consideration of championship bids in North Carolina,” it added.

Following months of failed attempts at finding a compromise with a repeal, North Carolina lawmakers were spurred into action March 30 after the NCAA said the state had 48 hours to repeal the contentious year-old law that denied anti-discrimination protections based upon sexual orientation or gender identity or be excluded from championship games through 2022.

“As with most compromises, this new law is far from perfect,” the NCAA said.

The state’s new law, however, now puts the state in line with other jurisdictions that presently host NCAA championships, the organization conceded. The NCAA said it would now require all sites awarded championships to submit additional documentation outlining how student athletes and fans would be protected from discrimination.

“While the new law meets the minimal NCAA requirements, the board remains concerned that some may perceive North Carolina’s moratorium against affording opportunities for communities to extend basic civil rights as a signal that discriminatory behavior is permitted and acceptable, which is inconsistent with the NCAA Bylaws,” the statement added.

You can read more about the April 18 announcement regarding the NCAA’s schedule here.

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