The NCAA will once again consider North Carolina to host championship events after state lawmakers last week rolled back House Bill 2, a controversial law that limited protections for LGBT people.
In a news release about its decision, the NCAA said its Board of Governors "reluctantly voted to allow consideration of championship bids in North Carolina by our committees that are presently meeting."
The NCAA also said that any North Carolina sites awarded a championship event will be required to "submit documentation demonstrating how student-athletes and fans will be protected from discrimination."
The NCAA pulled seven events from the state in September for the 2016-17 season, including opening-weekend men's basketball tournament games in March, in response to the law.
House Bill 142 repealed House Bill 2 entirely, stating that only the General Assembly can regulate access to multiple-occupancy bathrooms, locker rooms and changing facilities. It also prohibits local governments from enacting or amending ordinances regulating private employment practices or public accommodations until Dec. 1, 2020.
"(The new law) addressed a number of concerns that led to the relocation of the NCAA championships," the NCAA said. "As with most compromises, this new law is far from perfect."
"Clearly, they wanted a clean repeal of House Bill 2 as did I," Gov. Roy Cooper said, "but it is important that they recognize the progress in this legislation and they recognize that, even though it wasn't everything they wanted, that it was enough for them to come back.""Clearly, they wanted a clean repeal of House Bill 2 as did I," Gov. Roy Cooper said, "but it is important that they recognize the progress in this legislation and they recognize that, even though it wasn't everything they wanted, that it was enough for them to come back."
The NCAA said it is actively considering site selections for championships through 2022, and the new law has "minimally achieved a situation where we believe NCAA championships may be conducted in a nondiscriminatory environment."
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 pleased with the NCAA’s decision and acknowledgment that our compromise legislation ‘restores the state to … a landscape similar to other jurisdictions presently hosting NCAA championships,'" Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore said in a joint statement.
The Atlantic Coast Conference had followed the NCAA's lead last fall, pulling 10 neutral-site events out of the state, including moving the football championship game from Charlotte to Orlando.
But the ACC said Friday its Council of Presidents had voted to again consider North Carolina sites to host events. And that also ensured events already set for the state for the 2017-18 season would remain in place, meaning the football title game would return in December to Charlotte since it was contractually set to run there through 2019.
