Here's where the ACC women's basketball tournament will be in 2026

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The ACC is leaving its longtime home of Greensboro, North Carolina for Duluth, Georgia in 2026.

Whoever the next head coach at Georgia Tech is, they'll enjoy some semblance of a homecourt advantage next year at the ACC Tournament for women's basketball.

That's because the tournament will be held at Duluth, Georgia's Gas South Arena — nestled in the suburbs of Atlanta in Gwinnett County — March 4-8, 2026.

The ACC officially announced the tournament's move to Duluth on Thursday morning.

"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.

It marks just the second time since 1997 that the ACC women's tournament will not be played in the state of North Carolina, which is also the longtime home to the conference's headquarters.

Beginning in 2000, the ACC Tournament has been held at the historic Greensboro Coliseum every year except for 2017. That was the year the ACC and NCAA pulled all of their championships out of North Carolina in response to House Bill 2 — often referred to as the Bathroom Bill, which discriminated against transgender people — and the ACC sent its women's tournament to Conway, South Carolina.

This will mark the first time that Georgia has hosted the ACC women's basketball tournament, making it the fifth state to do so. It is the sixth different neutral site to hold the tournament.

For the past several years, coaches in the conference had asked the ACC to explore other options for the tournament. They wanted to see it rotate to different sites in the league's geographic footprint like the men's tournament, which has visited Charlotte, Greensboro, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Tampa and Washington, D.C., over the past two decades.

Choosing Duluth came after what the ACC called an "extensive bid process and subsequent evaluation by the league's coaches and administrators," that began last spring. The ACC's 18 athletic directors unanimously voted to send the 2026 tournament to Gas South Arena.

"Our coaches, even before I was here, were like, 'I think we're the only championship that doesn't move in the ACC.' And so, we're continuing to (explore options)," Jackie Carson, the senior associate commissioner for ACC women's basketball said in February.

The ACC's agreement with Gas South Arena is for one year. In 2027, the women's tournament will be played in Charlotte's Spectrum Center — home to the Charlotte Hornets. The locations for 2028 and beyond are still to-be-determined.

At least three other cities were considered by the ACC before landing on Duluth, a coach in the conference confirmed to SB Nation.

"It's nice to be wanted and to be able to expand it a little bit," Carson told SB Nation in February. "Greensboro has been an absolutely amazing host. If we were to leave, it would be tough, but (Greensboro) will always be home for us, and the Coliseum has been absolutely tremendous."

Gas South Arena seats 13,100 fans and is the longtime home of the Atlanta Gladiators minor league hockey team, the Georgia Swarm professional lacrosse team, and state basketball and wrestling championships in Georgia. It hosted the SEC women's basketball tournament in 2010, the NCAA women's gymnastics championships in 2012, and Game 3 of the WNBA Finals in 2013.

Since then though, the arena and surrounding area — known as the Gas South District Campus — underwent about $300 million in renovations in recent years. It now features 30 corporate suites, two party suites and club-level seating.

"This is an incredible opportunity to showcase our state-of-the-art venue and the vibrant community that makes this region so special," Stan Hall, the President and CEO of the Gwinnett Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in a statement. "We are excited to bring such a prestigious event to our fans and to continue elevating Gwinnett County as a premier destination for sports and entertainment. The energy and enthusiasm surrounding this tournament will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on our community."

Supporting the Gwinnett Sports Commission's bid were the WNBA's Atlanta Dream and the Atlanta Sports Commission.

The ACC men's basketball tournament will remain in North Carolina through 2029, rotating between Charlotte and Greensboro. The North Carolina state legislature earmarked $15 million for the ACC a few years ago as long as the conference kept its headquarters in the state for at least the next 15 years and pledged to hold at least four men's basketball tournaments, four women's basketball tournaments, four baseball tournaments and a combined 20 other postseason tournaments in the state by 2034.

For women's basketball, the league will meet its requirement for the state with the 2027 tournament in Charlotte, so it could continue to explore out-of-state options for the tournament in 2028 and beyond.

The ACC Tournament is the longest-running conference tourney in Division I women's basketball. Next season will mark its 49th edition. This past season in Greensboro, the tournament drew more than 70,000 fans for the first time since 2009. The title game between in-state rivals Duke and N.C. State set an attendance record with 11,823 fans, surpassing the previous mark set in 2005.

While it won't host the ACC Tournament next season, the Greensboro Coliseum will still see high-profile women's college basketball, as a pair of Sweet 16 teams — N.C. State and Tennessee — will meet there for a season-opening non-conference game on Nov. 4.