CHARLOTTE — The Atlantic Coast Conference is bringing six days of conference championship baseball games to Charlotte, and it’s one of dozens of tournaments that the city has hosted since the ACC brought its headquarters to the Queen City.
Channel 9 Government Reporter Joe Bruno is taking a look at the deal and the impact of the ACC in CLT.
Take a look back at the Spectrum Center in March and the crowds were buzzing -- not from the Charlotte Hornets, but for ACC Basketball. And fans said this is where the tournament belongs.
“This is where people care, we’ve gone to it in New York, in Washington, nobody even really knows what’s going on,” said Jeb Lee from Delaware.
Chris Bralley traveled from Virginia and said Charlotte is a central location that’s easy to get to.
“You have [Interstate] 85, 95, 77, all leading into Charlotte, so it makes it very easy to get to for any of the fans in ACC,” Bralley said.
The ACC’s headquarters is nestled in a tower in Uptown, and North Carolina lawmakers even provided the conference with $15 million in the state budget for the move. Mecklenburg County and Charlotte each gave the conference $40,000 in tax breaks.
In exchange, the ACC set up the headquarters and promised to hold at least 32 postseason championships in North Carolina by 2033. That includes four men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, and four baseball tournaments.
A review by Channel 9 showed that the ACC is just one women’s basketball conference championship away from hitting that goal.
“I think what they also know is the power of Charlotte as a sports event city,” said Miller Yoho with Charlotte Sports Foundation.
Yoho says Charlotte’s investment has already paid off.
“Having [American Legion] Memorial Stadium, having Truist Field, having the Spectrum Center, Bank of America Stadium, all of these facilities, it’s a no-brainer to host large events here,” Yoho said.
For example, the most recent ACC men’s basketball championship in March generated nearly $34 million in economic impact, according to the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. That includes $18 million in direct visitor spending, and $1.1 million in Mecklenburg County tax revenue. More than 15,000 overnight guests accounted for more than 22,000 hotel room nights during the tournament.
“We’re incredibly grateful and also really happy about where it is and where it’s going for the future,” Yoho said.
The ACC baseball championship begins Tuesday at Truist Field and it will also return in 2028. The women’s basketball tournament will return to the Spectrum Center next year.
The ACC declined to comment for this report.
The tournament will wrap up on Sunday at Truist Field.
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