Future of ACC Basketball Tournament in North Carolina?
Photo: wtkr.com
Photo: ACC Insider
When you think of ACC Basketball, you automatically associate it with the great state of North Carolina. Everyone does this, whether you live in the Tar Heel state or not. And for good reason. Four of the 15 teams in the conference are located in North Carolina. Those same four schools (UNC, Duke, NC State, and Wake Forest) were part of the original seven when the conference was founded in Greensboro, NC in 1953. The headquarters of the conference is located in Greensboro. And in basketball terms, the two most consistently dominating schools are located in North Carolina, just ten miles apart from each other, with UNC and Duke. With all the history and success, and the fact that North Carolina is in the middle of ACC Territory (Boston College in the North to Miami in the South), it makes perfect sense for the ACC Basketball Tournament to be held in North Carolina every year. So why is ACC commissioner John Swofford adamantly striving to involve other locations around the East Coast for the site of the yearly tournament?
Photo: gobblercountry.com
Since the inaugural ACC Basketball Tournament in 1954, which took place in Raleigh, North Carolina has hosted the tournament 50 times. It has taken place in Greensboro the most, at 27 times, but has seen a heavy number of appearances in Raleigh and Charlotte as well. With the ACC Tournament pretty much symbolizing a 3-4 day holiday in North Carolina, many people don’t understand why it would ever be located anywhere outside of the state. While it’s been out of the state before, it was always “occasionally,” with it coming back to North Carolina for the next handful of years. Recently, it has gone out of state a lot more, with North Carolina becoming just one part of a rotational basis. The last two years the tournament was located in Brooklyn, NY. The year before that it was in Washington, D.C. It will go back to D.C. in 2021 before heading back up to Brooklyn the following year. Beyond 2022, the sites have yet to be established, but commissioner Swofford expects to keep the trend of featuring different cities along the coast, which will most likely include before-seen tournament sites such as Atlanta, GA and Tampa, FL.
When the tournament is located in cities like Brooklyn or D.C., it drives people around North Carolina crazy to see the high number of empty seats. I remember specifically this being an issue just last year in Brooklyn. Sure, a UNC-Duke matchup will sell a lot of tickets (as it would anywhere), but what about a NC State-Clemson game? Or a Wake Forest-Virginia Tech game? Those type of games in Brooklyn were played in front of pretty sparse crowds, while if those same type of games were played in Greensboro or Charlotte, would be way more of a hot commodity. People in North Carolina celebrate these several days. We remember watching the tournament during school (elementary through high school) when the cool teachers would wheel in the tv cart. It’s something that’s been engrained in us, that this tournament is very important and always matters because of the bragging rights it provides us as fans. When held in Greensboro, Charlotte, or Raleigh, the ACC Tournament is the talk of the town for 3-4 straight days. That is simply not the case in cities like New York and Washington D.C. For one, there’s so many other big things going on in those cities. Secondly, and most importantly, it’s simply not in the heart of ACC Country.
With all of this being said, I understand John Swofford’s plan of moving the tournament around. He wants to grow the brand. After all, he is a business man. By taking the tournament to different places, he is exposing the brand to different and new people. People in cities outside of North Carolina might not be fully aware of the great product that ACC basketball is until they are afforded the opportunity to attend a game. It might draw in new fans, as well as new recruits who are able to attend and watch games. Taking the tournament to big cities such as New York and D.C. also provide the opportunity for marketing the brand in big-time markets. Everything is exposed in a brighter light in New York than it is anywhere else. This is one reason why many businesses who want to “make it” end up moving to New York. The same can be said about D.C. on a smaller scale. Selling your product in new markets, especially new and bigger markets, can yield great results for your product. So I understand what Swofford is wanting to do with the ACC Tournament. However, I still don’t like it.
For the reasons already mentioned, the ACC Tournament just belongs in North Carolina. As a resident of the state, I can attest that basically everyone feels that the tournament is our thing. We started it here, we raised it here, and we don’t want to see it go anywhere. The excitement that ACC Tournament week brings to Greensboro/Charlotte/Raleigh is one of the things that make our state so great. Fans across the state connect with the event on the highest level because we were born with it being a big deal. We have so many fond memories of watching it, whether on tv or in-person. As fans of the ACC, of course we want to see our product grow and succeed, but we still want that product to be at our hands at all times.
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So what would be the ideal vision for Swofford to have according to ACC fans who reside in North Carolina? There are some who would say to have the tournament here every single year. There are others who are totally with the commissioner about moving it around more frequently. Personally, I think the tournament should be located in North Carolina every year, with it taking place in another city every 4th year or so. While branching out every four years still allows the ACC to market itself in different geographical areas, it still recognizes that the tournament belongs in North Carolina. March is one of the most exciting times of the year in this state, resulting from March Madness and the passionate fans of our in-state schools. For that reason, hosting the ACC Tournament is one of the things that we do best.
Beginning at noon tomorrow, the ACC Tournament will kick off with a game between Wake Forest and Miami at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. You can guarantee that the next four days will be treated as a celebration, with “sick days” being taken, fans finding creative ways to watch the tournament at work/school, people making plans around the games, tailgating outside the basketball arena, and passionate fans filling the seats. I expect the exact same next year when the tournament will be held in Greensboro, NC. Hopefully it will do as well in Washington D.C. and Brooklyn the two following years, but we’ll see. With it being unknown when the tournament will make its way back to North Carolina after next year’s Greensboro hosting, the fans in this state should be sure to make the most of this year and next. Hopefully the ACC will never forget its roots.
Garett