ACC Tournament set for Charlotte, Greensboro from 2025-29

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Having grown up in the ACC and eventually having covered a number of ACC basketball tournaments, I confess that today’s announcement coming out of Charlotte concerning the next five years warmed my heart.

Commissioner Jim Phillips announced that the men’s ACC Basketball Tournament, the granddaddy of them all, will be held in either Greensboro or Charlotte from 2025 to 2029, five years of bliss as far as I’m concerned. For my money, that’s where the tournament belongs, particularly in Greensboro, which has hosted the event the most in its history.

The tournament means something in those two cities. There’s a buzz in the air for tournament week, even more so in Greensboro as opposed to Charlotte, which has turned more into a professional sports city. In Greensboro, the ACC Tournament is THE EVENT, an event that has created so much of this conference’s basketball history.

I’ve covered the ACC Tournament for decades, everywhere from Greensboro and Charlotte to Brooklyn, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Tampa of all places, where palm tree-lined streets and giant luxury cruise ships were docked outside the arena.

Nothing compares to Greensboro, I don’t care what Jim Boeheim says. Oh, and did Boeheim ever win a tournament game in Greensboro or Charlotte? I don’t think so, so he wasn’t around long enough to soak in the atmosphere of the tournament. Maybe he will this year as a member of the media.

I’ve heard all the arguments. There’s nothing for fans to do in Greensboro, there’s not enough elite restaurants or shopping.

Hello? It’s about basketball. If you want to go shopping or attend a play or eat 5-star food, go on vacation. This is about basketball, nothing else, just great basketball in a place where hoops is like a religion of its own.

Frankly, I have detested my trips to Brooklyn for the tournament, where you wonder if you’ll survive the subway ride to and from the arena to your hotel. Outside the arena in Brooklyn, there’s no excitement about the ACC.

It’s not much different in D.C., where next month’s tournament will be held. The crime rate in D.C. is off the map, which likely terrifies fans trying to get to the arena.

My two cents: they can keep the tournament in Greensboro and Charlotte from now on, and I don’t believe there will be much complaining.

Anyways, here’s a breakdown of the next five after D.C.: 2025-Charlotte, Spectrum Center; 2026-Charlotte, Spectrum Center; 2027-Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum; 2028-Charlotte, Spectrum Center; 2029-Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum.

The ACC announced the future championship sites for several of its sports, most of which will be in the state of North Carolina, which in reality is geographically in the center of most of the ACC (not counting the three new members from California and Texas). Below is a list of those venues:

The ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament will also split time between Charlotte and Greensboro, as the women’s tournament will tip off in the Greensboro Coliseum in 2024 and 2025. In 2027, the longest-running DI conference women’s basketball tournament in the country will be held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

Like the men’s and women’s basketball championships, the ACC Baseball Championship will also alternate sites over the next six years. Starting this spring, the baseball conference championship will be hosted at Truist Field in Charlotte in 2024, 2026, and 2028, while Durham and the Durham Bulls Athletic Park will host the championship event in 2025, 2027, and 2029.

In addition to basketball, the Greensboro Coliseum Complex will also host men’s and women’s swimming and diving as well as gymnastics. The Greensboro Aquatic Center will host the ACC Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships in five of the next six years – 2024, 2025, 2027, 2028, and 2029. The ACC Gymnastics Championship will be held three straight years – 2024, 2025, and 2026 – at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Charlotte is the host city for both the ACC Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Championships beginning this spring and running through 2028. Both events will be held at the American Legion Memorial Stadium.

The ACC Women’s Soccer Championship and the ACC Men’s Soccer Championship will continue to be held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary through the 2029 season.

The Cary Tennis Park will continue to host the ACC Women’s and Men’s Tennis Championships from 2024 through 2029.

Lake Wheeler Park in Raleigh will host the ACC Rowing Championship in five of the next seven years, including 2024, 2026, 2027, 2029, and 2030, while the ACC Women’s Golf Championship will be played on a variety of McConnell Golf properties throughout the Southeast through 2029. The 2024 event will be held in Wilmington at Porters Neck Country Club, while the 2025, 2027, and 2029 tournaments will take place at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.

Future Championships with Locations

ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament:
2025: Charlotte, Spectrum Center
2026: Charlotte, Spectrum Center
2027: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum
2028: Charlotte, Spectrum Center
2029: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum

ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament:
2024: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum (previously announced)
2025: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum
2027: Charlotte, Spectrum Center

ACC Baseball Championship:
2024: Charlotte, Truist Field (previously announced)
2025: Durham, Durham Bulls Athletic Park
2026: Charlotte, Truist Field
2027: Durham, Durham Bulls Athletic Park
2028: Charlotte, Truist Field
2029: Durham, Durham Bulls Athletic Park

ACC Gymnastics Championship:
2024: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum (previously announced)
2025: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum
2026: Greensboro, Greensboro Coliseum

ACC Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships:
2024: Greensboro, Greensboro Aquatic Center (previously announced)
2025: Greensboro, Greensboro Aquatic Center
2027: Greensboro, Greensboro Aquatic Center
2028: Greensboro, Greensboro Aquatic Center
2029: Greensboro, Greensboro Aquatic Center

ACC Men’s Soccer and ACC Women’s Soccer Championships:
2024: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
2025: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
2026: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
2027: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
2028: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park
2029: Cary, WakeMed Soccer Park

ACC Men’s & Women’s Lacrosse Championship:
2024: Charlotte, American Legion Memorial Stadium (previously announced)
2025: Charlotte, American Legion Memorial Stadium
2026: Charlotte, American Legion Memorial Stadium
2027: Charlotte, American Legion Memorial Stadium
2028: Charlotte, American Legion Memorial Stadium

ACC Rowing Championship:
2024: Raleigh, Lake Wheeler Park (previously announced)
2026: Raleigh, Lake Wheeler Park
2027: Raleigh, Lake Wheeler Park
2029: Raleigh, Lake Wheeler Park
2030: Raleigh, Lake Wheeler Park

ACC Men’s & Women’s Tennis Championships:
2024: Cary, Cary Tennis Park (previously announced)
2025: Cary, Cary Tennis Park
2026: Cary, Cary Tennis Park
2027: Cary, Cary Tennis Park
2028: Cary, Cary Tennis Park
2029: Cary, Cary Tennis Park

ACC Women’s Golf Championship:
2024: Wilmington, Porters Neck Country Club (previously announced)
2025: Greensboro, Sedgefield Country Club
2026: McConnell Golf Properties
2027: Greensboro, Sedgefield Country Club
2028: McConnell Golf Properties
2029: Greensboro, Sedgefield Country Club