Lea: The ACC's growth should not include headquarters moving
Posted October 12, 2021 2:42 p.m. EDT
Updated October 12, 2021 6:44 p.m. EDT
George Bernard Shaw said, "Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds can't change anything."
Whether we like it or not, college sports is constantly changing – and drastically. Now players can get paid from their name, image and likeness. They can also transfer and immediately play at their new school, instead of sitting for a year. Another change is coming when the 2022-23 basketball season begins. For the first time in 42 years Coach Mike Krzyzewski will not be roaming the sidelines for Duke.
Along with those changes the ACC will have to pivot. The traditional conference we're used to will not be the ACC of the future, and we've been witnessing that reality unfold since the late 90's. Expansion, departures and TV rights deals changing are just a small part of those changes. But there are potential changes coming up that could alter how we as North Carolinians see the ACC forever.
Commissioner Jim Phillips recently hired a real estate advisory firm called Newmark to help the conference assess whether they should relocate their headquarters within Greensboro or to another city completely.
"I realized we needed to have an assessment of the whole, entire structured staff and external, how we were focused," Phillips said when asked about potential relocation. "All of those things and to exclude the location piece just would have been a disservice to what I was asked to do and that's lead an entire conference."
Phillips went on to say that the conference is currently assessing whether to move within or outside of Greensboro and that he has not had any conversations with another city about the possibility of moving ACC headquarters.
"Cultures grow on the vine of tradition." - Jonah Goldberg
There's no doubt that the heartbeat of the ACC lies in the state of North Carolina. Without the basketball success of Duke and North Carolina, the conference wouldn't have become regarded as the best collegiate basketball conference in the nation. That's precisely why the ACC should remain in Greensboro - or if they feel like they must make a move, they should do so within the state to Raleigh or Charlotte.
Change is necessary when comes down to processes. Neither the NCAA nor the ACC should operate the same way they operated back in the 1990's. Student athletes should be able to freely transfer or make money from their name, image and likeness or their intellectual property while being collegiate athletes. But there's something to say about tradition and having deep roots in a particular location.
As a native of Greensboro and a life long fan of the ACC, it would pain me to see the headquarters bolt to another location, but it wouldn't hurt as much if that location were in-state. The growth of the Raleigh and Charlotte markets would absolutely make sense, plus you could argue that the Triangle is already the unofficial headquarters of the ACC with NC State, UNC and Duke.
North Carolina is the heartbeat of this conference no matter how far it expands. The crowds that filled the arenas that built the ACC to the conference that it is ,were located in this state. Many of the best memories, from the rivalries, the coaching legends and the biggest moments in its history happened here. And it should stay here.
Charlotte and Raleigh, and Greensboro to an extent, have shown the ability to adapt, change and grow. I would hope Phillips would allow one of those cities to help to oversee the conference's growth, while simultaneously keeping tradition alive in the state that helped make the ACC what it is today.
