ACC Football Title Games to Tampa, Charlotte

The Atlantic Coast Conference has awarded its future football championship games to Tampa Bay and to Charlotte, the league announced Wednesday.

The game will be in Tampa in 2008 and 2009 and in Charlotte in 2010 and 2011The decision was reached unanimously Wednesday morning on a conference call of the league’s athletics directors and faculty athletics, the ACC said.

The league had held the first three championship games in Jacksonville, Fla., but attendance overall was disappointing.

The sequencing of the cities was largely influenced by a city-wide convention in Charlotte in 2008, which limited access to key Uptown hotels and ancillary event areas, the ACC said. The awarding of the game for four years allowed the ACC to meet each city’s request to host the event for a consecutive two-year period.

“Both Tampa Bay and Charlotte are tremendous destinations in terms of their football venue, community support and partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference," commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. "Both locations have outstanding leadership as well as surrounding communities that have embraced the opportunity to continue the growth of our championship game.”

The games on December 6, 2008 and December 5, 2009, will be held at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League, the Outback Bowl, as well as Super Bowls XXXV (2001) and XLIII (2009).

“We are excited about the opportunity to not only host, but to also grow this game to a level that’s befitting of the Atlantic Coast Conference,” said Jeff Adams, Chairman of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission. “Based on the overwhelming support we have received from the Tampa Bay community, we are confident that we will meet and exceed the ACC’s expectations.”

The Conference’s title games on December 4, 2010 and December 3, 2011 will be held at Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

“Charlotte is delighted to have been chosen to host the 2010 and 2011 ACC Football Championship Games,” Tim Newman, CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, said in a statement.