The ACC unveiled the locations for its conference championships in a bevy of Olympic sports earlier this week.
It’s a geographically diverse list of sites featuring not only Charlotte and Greensboro but also Raleigh and Durham, plus Cary and Wilmington.
That’s right: Six years of championships across 10 sports, all of them in North Carolina.
The conference described the selections as “neutral sites” in its news release. And they are — for the ACC schools in the Eastern Time Zone.
For Stanford and Cal, the locations are less like neutral sites and more like neutral schleps.
The baseball tournament will rotate between Charlotte and Durham for six years. The gymnastics championships are scheduled for Greensboro. Same with swimming and diving. The soccer championships? They’re in Cary, just outside of Raleigh.
And on it goes.
But that’s what Stanford and Cal signed up for when they agreed to 12-year membership contracts in the ACC starting next season.
The Bay Area schools got a reminder of the daunting logistics facing their teams two weeks ago when the ACC released its football schedule.
Cal opens conference play at Florida State.
Stanford opens at Syracuse on a Friday night. The following week, the Cardinal visits Clemson. In between those cross-country kickoffs, classes begin for the fall quarter.
To be clear: The championship locations for basketball, soccer, baseball, tennis, rowing, golf, gymnastics and several other sports did not come as a surprise to the Bay Area schools.
They knew the Tar Heel State would host many, if not all of the events for the rest of the decade.
Two years ago, the ACC cut a deal with North Carolina legislators that provided $15 million in cash in exchange for keeping the conference headquarters, and staging a slew of championship events, in the state.
According to a report from Raleigh-based TV station WRAL:
“To qualify for the $15 million from the state Department of Commerce, the league would have to remain in the state for 15 years, hold an additional four men’s basketball tournaments in the state (including two in Greensboro), an additional four women’s basketball tournaments in the state, an additional four baseball postseason tournaments and 20 other postseason tournaments by 2034. Those events are in addition to those already scheduled for North Carolina.”
So in addition to all the travel for regular-season conference events, the Bears and Cardinal will be spending the postseasons in North Carolina.
Oh, and the ACC football championship game is under contract for Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte through 2030.
Future Championships with Locations
Men’s basketball tournament:
2025: Charlotte, Spectrum Center
2026: Charlotte, Spectrum Center
2027: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum
2028: Charlotte, Spectrum Center
2029: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum
Women’s basketball tournament:
2024: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum (previously announced)
2025: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum
2027: Charlotte, Spectrum Center
Baseball championship:
2024: Charlotte, Truist Field (previously announced)
2025: Durham, Durham Bulls Athletic Park
2026: Charlotte, Truist Field
2027: Durham, Durham Bulls Athletic Park
2028: Charlotte, Truist Field
2029: Durham, Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Gymnastics championship:
2024: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum (previously announced)
2025: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum
2026: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum
Men’s and women’s swimming/diving championships:
2024: Greensboro, Greensboro Aquatic Center (previously announced)
2025: Greensboro, Greensboro Aquatic Center
2027: Greensboro, Greensboro Aquatic Center
2028: Greensboro, Greensboro Aquatic Center
2029: Greensboro, Greensboro Aquatic Center
Men’s and women’s soccer championships:
2024: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
2025: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
2026: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
2027: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
2028: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
2029: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
Men’s and women’s lacrosse championships:
2024: Charlotte, American Legion Memorial Stadium (previously announced)
2025: Charlotte, American Legion Memorial Stadium
2026: Charlotte, American Legion Memorial Stadium
2027: Charlotte, American Legion Memorial Stadium
2028: Charlotte, American Legion Memorial Stadium
Rowing championship:
2024: Raleigh, Lake Wheeler Park (previously announced)
2026: Raleigh, Lake Wheeler Park
2027: Raleigh, Lake Wheeler Park
2029: Raleigh, Lake Wheeler Park
2030: Raleigh, Lake Wheeler Park
Men’s and women’s tennis championships:
2024: Cary, Cary Tennis Park (previously announced)
2025: Cary, Cary Tennis Park
2026: Cary, Cary Tennis Park
2027: Cary, Cary Tennis Park
2028: Cary, Cary Tennis Park
2029: Cary, Cary Tennis Park
Women’s golf championship:
2024: Wilmington, Porters Neck Country Club (previously announced)
2025: Greensboro, Sedgefield Country Club
2026: McConnell Golf Properties
2027: Greensboro, Sedgefield Country Club
2028: McConnell Golf Properties
2029: Greensboro, Sedgefield Country Club
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