2024 ACC Tournament:
This Year’s D.C. Visit Concludes
20-Year Out-Of-State Experiment

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network

The modern expansion of the Atlantic Coast Conference perfectly corresponds with the dramatic acceleration of the in-state/out-of-state rotation of the ACC Tournament.

The 2022 event, held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (which is located about 250 miles away from the closest league member, Syracuse), was especially symbolic of this seismic shift. This year’s trip to Washington, D.C., underlines it as well; only Virginia is within a 240-mile drive of the nation’s capital.

Prior to 2004, the ACC was always a seven-, eight- or nine-member league, with four of those universities (along with the league’s headquarters) based in North Carolina. Starting in 2004-05, the conference grew to have 11 members, then 12 in 2005-06, then the current 15 beginning in 2013-14. The number of North Carolina schools, of course, remained at four.

From 1954-2004, 44 of the 51 ACC Tournaments (86 percent) were held in North Carolina. The first 13 events were held at Reynolds Coliseum, NC State’s home court at the time, before the league switched to independent sites. Greensboro (the host a record 29 times overall) and Charlotte (tied for second-most with Raleigh at 13) then dominated the rotation for decades.

From 2005-24, “only” 10 of the 19 ACC Tournaments (53 percent) have been held in North Carolina, with the other nine in Brooklyn (three), D.C. (three), Atlanta (two) and Tampa (one). The 2020 event, in Greensboro, is not included in those numbers because COVID-related complications prevented its completion.

League officials announced in February the ACC Tournament’s future locations through 2029, and many North Carolinians and ACC traditionalists were excited to see the pendulum swing back toward in-state venues. The Spectrum Center in Charlotte will host the event in 2025, 2026 and 2028. The Greensboro Coliseum will host in 2027 and 2029.

Those announcements came about five months after the ACC moved its headquarters from Greensboro, which the league had called home for the first 70 years of its existence, to Charlotte last August.

The North Carolina Department of Commerce had offered the ACC $15 million in incentives from its economic development reserve if the league were both willing to remain in North Carolina and ready to commit to assigning many of its upcoming championship events to in-state cities/venues.

When ACC commissioner Jim Phillips confirmed the ACC Tournament dates through 2029, he also announced that more than two dozen upcoming championship events in baseball, women’s basketball, women’s golf, gymnastics, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, rowing, and men’s and women’s tennis also would be held at various North Carolina sites.

The ACC football championship game previously had been committed to remain at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte all the way through the 2030 season.

“We are incredibly proud to announce this tremendous package of neutral-site championships that will be held in the state of North Carolina, where the league was founded more than 70 years ago,” Phillips said. “Each of these outstanding cities and venues will provide a first-class experience for our student-athletes, coaches, institutions, alumni and fans over the next seven years.

“We are also pleased to have been able to deliver so quickly on our commitment to continue to hold numerous tournaments and championships in cities across the state of North Carolina as part of the ACC Board of Directors’ decision to relocate the conference office headquarters to Charlotte.”

Future ACC Tournament Locations

2025—Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.
2026—Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.
2027—Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C.
2028—Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.
2029—Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C.

Past ACC Tournament Locations

29—Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C. (1967, 1971-75, 1977-80, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1995-98, 2003-04, 2006, 2010-11, 2013-15, 2020, 2021, 2023)
13—Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, N.C. (1954-66)
8—Charlotte Coliseum (demolished in 2007), Charlotte, N.C. (1990-94, 1999-2000, 2002)
3—Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y. (2017, 2018, 2022)
3—Capital Centre, Landover, Md. (1976, 1981, 1987)
3—Capital One Arena (formerly MCI/Verizon Center), Washington, D.C. (2005, 2016, 2024)
3—Charlotte Coliseum (now Bojangles Coliseum), Charlotte, N.C. (1968-70)
3—Omni Coliseum (demolished in 1997), Atlanta, Ga. (1983, 1985, 1989)
2—Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga. (2001, 2009)
2—Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C. (2008, 2019)
1—Amalie Arena (formerly St. Pete Times Forum), Tampa, Fla. (2007)
1—State Farm Arena (formerly Philips Arena), Atlanta, Ga. (2012)