NCAA 'reluctantly' will consider N.C. for championship events

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 -- The NCAA Board of Governors "reluctantly" voted to allow consideration of championship bids in North Carolina. Any site awarded a championship event will be required to submit additional documentation demonstrating how student-athletes and fans will be protected from discrimination.

Posted 10:26 p.m. Apr 4, 2017 — Updated 10:32 p.m. Apr 4, 2017

On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, the NCAA released a statement saying it will again consider locating championship events in North Carolina. Here are highlights from the statement. The full statement is available here.

"A majority on the NCAA Board of Governors reluctantly voted to allow consideration of championship bids in North Carolina by our committees that are presently meeting. The NCAA championships previously awarded to North Carolina for 2017-18 will remain in the state. The board, however, directs that any site awarded a championship event in North Carolina or elsewhere be required to submit additional documentation demonstrating how student-athletes and fans will be protected from discrimination."

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"The NCAA did not lobby for any specific change in the law (HB2). The Board of Governors, however, was hopeful that the state would fully repeal HB2 in order to allow the host communities to ensure a safe, healthy, discrimination-free atmosphere for the championship sites. 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."

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"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. 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."

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