The ACC announced the future sites for the men’s basketball tournament on Thursday, along with a number of other sports for the next few seasons.
The conference has chosen to hand the next five ACC men’s basketball tournaments to their home state of North Carolina. The Spectrum Center in Charlotte, which is the home arena for the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, will host the tournament in both 2025 and 2026, as well as 2028. Greensboro Coliseum will host the tournament in 2027 and 2029.
The Spectrum Center has hosted the ACC men’s basketball tournament twice prior. The first time was 2008, with the name of the venue known as Charlotte Bobcats Arena at the time, which saw North Carolina defeat Clemson in the final. The last time was 2019, when Duke had a number of top NBA talent in Zion Williams, Cam Reddish, R.J. Barrett and others defeated Florida State in the final.
Greensboro Coliseum has served as the location for the ACC men’s basketball tournament a record 29 times, most recently in 2023, with Duke taking down Virginia in the final.
The goal for the ACC is to keep their championship sites in North Carolina. Much of this comes from the fact the headquarters for the conference are in Charlotte, N.C., where the state budget put up $15 million to keep them there in the state through 2037.Â
The benefit for keeping the championship sites in the state also comes in money for the cities hosting the championships. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said that hosting a variety of ACC Championships has brought in a reported $400 million for the local economies in North Carolina.
The other sports that will keep their ACC Championships in the state include baseball, gymnastics, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s lacrosse, rowing, men’s and women’s tennis and women’s golf.
Women’s basketball will also stay in the state, with Greensboro hosting again in 2024 and 2025 at Greensboro Coliseum and the Spectrum Center hosting in 2027. The conference did not announce a site for 2026.
Football also will continue to stay at Bank of America Stadium, home of NFL franchise the Carolina Panthers, through 2030.
I don’t mind the games being played in Charlotte. However, the ACC has comprised the integrity of the conference by encouraging Carolina bias referees in BB and Football.
This is the problem with the ACC. They basically show you every chance they get, that if it was up to them, they’d still be the ACC of the good ol’ days. I’ve been to the Coliseum dozens of times (my daughter went to UNCG) and it has no business hosting a tournament like this. You can’t say it’s a “neutral” site. It is so close to Wake Forest, and even UNC and Duke for that matter, it would be like holding the tournament at Robert Morris and saying it’s not near Pitt. They want nothing to do with Florida,… Read more »
I have no interest in going to an ACC tournament in North Carolina. I am definitely game (and can talk my wife into coming) to an ACC tournament in NYC.
Someday they might reach the conclusion that the conference would get better recognition if they gave more than token coverage to non ACC founding schools and showcasing ALL the conference members outside of North Carolina. I do not know how the justify charging departure fees to non founding members,
In March, there is nothing to do in Charlotte other than attending the tournament.