ACC denies Atlanta bid for tournament, what that may mean

Philips Arena is being renamed for State Farm after a $192.5 million renovation.

Credit: John Bazemore

Credit: John Bazemore

Philips Arena is being renamed for State Farm after a $192.5 million renovation.

The ACC basketball tournament will not return to Atlanta until at least 2023, if then. That became clear Thursday after the conference announced that the 2021 and 2022 tournaments will take place in Washington, D.C. and New York (Brooklyn), respectively. Atlanta had bid to host the 2021 tournament, according a spokeswoman for the Atlanta Sports Council.

The 2019 tournament will be held in Charlotte, N.C., with the 2020 tournament in its traditional home of Greensboro, N.C.

When the 2012 ACC tournament was held at Philips Arena (now State Farm Arena), it was the sixth time that Atlanta had hosted the event in a 30-year span. With the tournament booked through 2022, that will be a 10-year run without the event in Atlanta.

The spokeswoman also said that the sports council is focused on the next bid cycle. Commissioner John Swofford’s comments released by the ACC with Thursday’s announcement suggest that Atlanta’s chances may be limited.

Swofford said that ACC member schools were pleased with the next four sites “because it’s a continuation of the rotation we’ve had in recent years.”

Greensboro, Washington and Brooklyn have shared the past six tournaments. (Charlotte’s last tournament was 2008.)

The impending four-year rotation keeps the tournament for two years in North Carolina, where the event has traditionally been played, and then to Washington and New York, “which are also very important to our current footprint,” Swofford said.

In 2012, the tournament’s last stop in Atlanta, the footprint was considerably different. The league was at 12 teams with Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Notre Dame yet to join.