RALEIGH, N.C. — The ACC is officially looking outside Greensboro as a possible new home for the league office.
The league’s Board of Directors, chaired by Duke president Vincent Price, voted Tuesday to proceed to phase two of an evaluation of the league office location.
That means actually exploring and engaging with cities that could be the new home of the ACC headquarters, which has been in Greensboro since the league was founded there in 1953.
Earlier this year, the league hired Newmark, an independent consultant, to conduct the search.
“The Board of Directors is continuing its work to evaluate and will make decisions that are in the long-term best interests of the ACC,” Price said in a statement. “Greensboro has been our proud home for almost seventy years and will be given thorough consideration to remain so for years to come. ”
Tuesday’s announcement comes two weeks to the day after ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, during a news conference in Charlotte, said the search had been limited to examining Greensboro only.
“I have not had one conversation with other cities,” Phillips said on Oct. 12, during the ACC Tip Off event at an uptown Charlotte hotel. “I have not. That’s the gospel. I have not.”
Now the search process allows the ACC to do just that.
In announcing the 15-member board’s decision to explore other cities, the ACC provided a list of criteria that will be considered. It included:
— Located within the Eastern Time zone.
— Population size with positive growth trends.
— Growth and diversity of population.
— Access to a large hub airport with effective accessibility to and from all ACC member schools.
— Anticipated benefit to the overall ACC brand and potential synergies to existing and prospective partners.
— Financial considerations related to operational expenses
Charlotte checks many of the boxes on that list and is considered a strong contender should the ACC relocate.
Phillips took over as ACC commissioner in February, replacing the retired John Swofford. Previously Northwestern’s athletics director, he embarked on a tour of all 15 ACC campuses where he said the location of the league office was a popular topic.
“The first meeting I had with the ACC staff, it was the first question that was asked by an ACC staff member,” Phillips said Oct. 12. “I had interviews with every ACC staff member. The majority of them asked me about it. I went to 15 campuses in the spring and was asked about it.”
Last summer, the league announced it was hiring two outside consulting firms, Weiberg and Newmark, to review conference operations and the location of its headquarters. Weiberg’s examination of league operations remains ongoing and the ACC statement on Tuesday said it is “focused on governance, staffing levels, budgets, technology, branding, revenue generation and the allocation of resources toward the student-athlete experience.”
“When we initiated these reviews in July, our goal was to take a comprehensive look at how and where we operate in the context of an ever-changing landscape,” Phillips said in a statement Tuesday. “Newmark and Weiberg Consultants continue to provide us with the necessary, objective information to make decisions in the best interests of our conference, and we’re confident in their ongoing work.”
During the first phase of the headquarters location process, the ACC said, Newmark interviewed more than 100 conference office, league and City of Greensboro stakeholders.
The ACC offered no timetable on phase two or revealed any cities it is considering beyond Greensboro. But it said that once phase two is completed, Newmark will present the results to the Board of Directors for any possible moves.
Charlotte would make a strong pitch for the ACC if the conference decides to move its headquarters from Greensboro, city government spokesman Cory Burkarth said Tuesday.
“If the ACC conference leadership makes the decision to leave, Charlotte we feel is the best place for them to be,” he said. “We believe the ACC would be a fantastic addition to what we already have in Charlotte.”
Burkarth ticked off the city’s sports credentials: It’s home of the ACC football championship game, NFL, NBA and AAA baseball franchises, the Charlotte Sports Foundation and ESPN facilities that produce the SEC Network.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is one of the nation’s busiest.
“Charlotte checks all the boxes for a working sports professional,” Burkarth said.
In August, Gov. Roy Cooper expressed similar feelings.
“The ACC has a storied history and deep roots in North Carolina and the Governor believes that this great conference should continue to make its home in our state for years to come,” Cooper’s deputy communications director, Mary Scott Winstead, said in an email to the News & Observer.
