By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Duke’s Reigan Richardson drives against Louisville during the 2025 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Friday March 7th, 2025 (Photo by Andrew Hancock/ACC)

For just the second time in a quarter century, the ACC women’s basketball tournament will be played outside of Greensboro.

And the event doesn’t appear headed back to Greensboro anytime soon.

The 2026 event will be played in Duluth, Georgia, at the Gas South Arena from March 4-8, the conference announced Wednesday. Duluth is about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta in Gwinnett County.

The tournament has been played in Greensboro for 25 of the past 26 seasons, including in March. The last time it was held outside Greensboro was in 2017 when the games were played in Conway, South Carolina.

In February 2024, the league announced future championship events in North Carolina. It listed the 2024 and 2025 women’s basketball tournament in Greensboro and the 2027 event in Charlotte. It did not include locations for the 2026, 2028 or 2029 tournaments, an indication that they will not be played in North Carolina.

The ACC announced other events in North Carolina through 2029. The men’s basketball tournament, for example, will be held in Charlotte in 2026 and 2028 and in Greensboro in 2027 and 2029.

In 2022, the state of North Carolina gave $15 million incentives to the ACC if it kept its headquarters in the state and committed to holding a certain number of championship events in the state. The league announced it was moving its headquarters from Greensboro to Charlotte several months later.

It is just the ninth time since the tournament began in 1978 that it will be held outside of North Carolina.

“Women’s basketball is thriving, and we are delighted to bring the longest-running collegiate conference women’s basketball tournament to a new, state-of-the-art venue in our region, further enhancing the incredible success we have achieved with our partners in Greensboro,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement.

March’s ACC Tournament drew a tournament record 11,823 fans for the championship clash between Duke and NC State. Gas South Arena holds 13,000 fans. The event drew more than 70,000 fans for the first time since 2009.

Duke, North Carolina and NC State all reached the Sweet 16 this season with Duke advancing to the Elite Eight. NC State reached the Final Four in 2024.

Source: wralsportsfan.com