This isn’t something that can be said very often, but the NCAA actually got something right for a change. On Monday, the oft-maligned governing body for college sports announced that it would be moving seven events, most notably the opening round of the men’s basketball tournament, out of North Carolina due to the passing of House Bill 2 earlier in the year. The NCAA’s decision comes several months after the NBA made the decision to move the all-star game from Charlotte to New Orleans.
The NCAA made it immediately clear that this was not a move they were making without putting much thought into it. In a detailed press release, the NCAA explained their decision to move all seven events scheduled to take place in North Carolina throughout the 2016-17 academic year. Most of their reasons detail the blatantly discriminatory nature of HB2, which makes it illegal for transgender individuals to use restrooms that differ from the sex on their birth certificate, invalidating local laws that would protect LGBT individuals while effectively legalizing governmental discrimination against them. All in all, it mostly reads as the NCAA taking a praiseworthy stance against LGBT discrimination.
This is certainly how they’re going to frame this decision, making a particular point in relating it back to their nominal role as an educational institution. NCAA president Mark Emmert, speaking with CBS This Morning, said “this is an issue to an issue that’s fundamental to higher ed ... Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of what the NCAA does and what universities do. For our university presidents, this was a proverbial no-brainer.”
That all sounds nice but the NCAA is, 501c3 nonprofit status notwithstanding, a business organization and, from that perspective, there was probably considerable more debate about this decision. First of all, it could end up damaging their relationship with a region that has been practically synonymous with college basketball for decades: no state has hosted more tournament games than North Carolina. While both Duke University and the University of North Carolina have released statements supporting the NCAA’s decision, they run the risk of alienating a significant percentage of customers.
It’s bigger than just North Carolina, though. The NCAA’s announcement comes during a heated political climate dominated by discussions of bigotry and discrimination. Unsurprisingly, this decision has been received quite differently by those on opposite ends of the aisle. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s Twitter feed blandly praised the NCAA’s decision:
The @NCAA is right to pull tournament games from North Carolina because of the anti-LGBT HB2 law. Discrimination has no place in America. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 13, 2016
Meanwhile, the North Carolina GOP responded to the news with a gonzo mishmash of offensive absurdity that feels right in line with the Republican presidential candidate’s public persona.
Here's the NC GOP's response to the NCAA. I made sure it was not a parody account. pic.twitter.com/BD8Ak8Rx0q
— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) September 13, 2016
Coming at a time where half the country is absolutely outraged over a backup quarterback’s choice of posture, the NCAA had to be aware that this decision would make them a target for conservative criticism. It’s encouraging that this ultimately didn’t dictate their decision.
But they didn’t make it in a vacuum. After breaking down the numerous ways HB2 was discriminatory and inconsistent with their stated beliefs, the NCAA acknowledges that there was also a logistical aspect at play. It became increasingly difficult to keep the events where they were because “five states plus numerous cities prohibit travel to North Carolina for public employees … which could include student-athletes and campus athletic staff.” In other words, the fact that these states (New York, Minnesota, Washington, Vermont, Connecticut) barred government travel to North Carolina in the wake of HB2’s passing forced their hand somewhat.
It also probably isn’t a coincidence that they made this decision after the NBA announced that it was moving the 2017 all-star game. It’s impossible to imagine the board agreeing to move multiple championships if the NBA had decided it wouldn’t be feasible to relocate a single event. The NCAA also knew that other businesses had already decided to stop doing business there.
Basically, every state government, business or organization that made the decision to stay out of North Carolina as long as this discriminatory law was in effect made it that much easier for the NCAA to take this rather drastic step. The hope now, at least for those who believe that applying economic pressure is the most effective way in getting HB2 rewritten or repealed altogether, is that this latest high-profile boycott will embolden others to join in.
For that reason, the NCAA should be commended for taking a stance against discrimination here. Even if it was a “no-brainer” in an ethical sense, it could still end up being a costly one for the NCAA, both in terms of the expense and hassle of actually relocating the events and in terms of the inevitable backlash to come.
Of course, they do have plenty of experience in dealing with the latter, the only thing they will have to adjust to is being on the right side of criticism for once.
