Play ball!
After the ACC boycotted North Carolina over House Bill 2, a group of Republican legislators have filed a bill that would withdraw UNC system schools from any athletic conference that boycotts the state in the future.
House Bill 728 was filed this week by five GOP House members. If it becomes law, public universities would be required to immediately begin the process of leaving their athletic conference if the organization boycotts the state. Revenue from existing media rights contracts would be used to pay withdrawal penalties; the withdrawals would take place when the current contracts for media rights expire.
One of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Mark Brody of Monroe, says he thinks North Carolina’s public universities would likely join another conference instead.
“I think there are a lot of conferences that would love to have North Carolina, including having a national championship basketball team join their conference,” Brody said Wednesday, referring to UNC-Chapel Hill. “None of the other conferences took this radical approach that the ACC did.”
After the legislature passed HB2 last year, the ACC in September pulled 10 neutral-site championships for the 2016-17 season – including a baseball tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park and several events in Cary.
After the law was replaced last month, the ACC announced that North Carolina will again be eligible for postseason events, ending the boycott. The NCAA made a similar announcement but voiced concerns about the new law.[…]
Brody has also filed another bill that takes aim at the NCAA and ACC for their actions on House Bill 2. The “Athletic Associations Accountability Act” would require House and Senate leaders to complain to the IRS that the boycotts violate rules for nonprofit organizations.