North Carolina feeling the heat
COSTLY DECISION: Fans hit where it hurts as NCAA pulls seven championships from state over LGBT law
RALEIGH, N.C. — The NCAA’s decision to pull seven championships out of North Carolina ratchets up the pressure on this college sports-crazy state to repeal its law on bathroom use by transgender people.
Unlike the recent one-time cancellations by the NBA and various rock stars, the move by college sports’ governing body could make moderate and conservative voters question whether the price tag for the law has finally become too high.
Economic development officials said the effect of the NCAA’s action goes well beyond the projected $20 million in lost revenue from the cancellation of the 2016-17 basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, lacrosse and golf events.
“College sports is part of the fabric of North Carolina. It’s part of the culture. I can say with confidence that there’s no other state in the country that loves its college sports more than North Carolina. That’s why it hits so hard and feels so personal,” said Scott Dupree, executive director of the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, which was co-ordinating four of the events being moved.
The law passed in March requires transgender people to use restrooms in schools and state government buildings that correspond to the gender on their birth certificate. It also excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide anti-discrimination protections.
The Obama administration is suing the state over the measure, calling it discriminatory. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and GOP leaders are defending it as a means of protecting the privacy and safety of women and girls.
On Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers urged McCrory and leaders of the GOP-controlled legislature to call a special session to repeal the law.
But with weeks to go before election day, legislators in campaign mode and no regularly scheduled session until January, chances are slim the Republicans will act.
GOP legislative leaders are committed to costly court fights over the law and contend passing it was the right thing to do.
McCrory, who is locked in a tight race for re-election, issued a statement decrying the NCAA decision and saying the legal system will ultimately decide the issue.
“The issue of redefining gender and basic norms of privacy will be resolved in the near future in the United States court system for not only North Carolina, but the entire nation,” he said.
But in the meantime, Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College, said it will be hard for moderate voters who are passionate about sports to ignore the law’s repercussions.
Mac McCorkle, a Duke University professor and former Democratic consultant, said the NCAA’s announcement reinforces the idea that McCrory has allowed the situation to get out of control. “It’s a mess,” McCorkle said. McCorkle said the removal of men’s basketball tournament games from Greensboro hits hard because college basketball is the “civic religion” in the state that’s home to UNC, Duke, N.C. State and Wake Forest.
The Greensboro area was expected to receive a $14.5 million infusion from the tournament, as well as $1.6 million from the soccer championships in December that are being moved, said Henri Fourrier, CEO of the Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. The soccer, baseball, lacrosse and tennis events taken from Cary will deprive the area of about $2 million, Dupree said.
The Atlantic Coast Conference, which has its football championship scheduled for December in Charlotte, could be next to act. The championship game, held in Charlotte since 2010, is the last marquee college sporting event left in North Carolina during the 2016-17 season.
Previously, musicians including Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam cancelled concerts, while the NBA decided to move next year’s All-Star Game out of Charlotte. The game was expected to generate $100 million.