UNC Charlotte has just accepted an invitation for all of their varsity sports programs to officially join the American Athletic Conference (The American). Charlotte will now be officially competing against East Carolina, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, and 10 other major universities around the country.
“Since UNC Charlotte’s founding just 75 years ago, we have had many transformative milestones, and this is certainly one of those moments,” commented Charlotte Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber. “This invitation by The American not only recognizes the accomplishments of our University and athletics program to date, but it also demonstrates belief in our rising trajectory. We are a university on the move, shaping what’s next for our city, our region and beyond.”
Welcome to The American, @Charlotte49ers!#AmericanPow6r | #GoldStandard pic.twitter.com/c7z71V6WH3
— The American (@American_Conf) October 21, 2021
In addition to Charlotte, the American is also welcoming 5 other new additions to the conference, including The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Florida Atlantic University, The University of North Texas, Rice University, and The University of Texas at San Antonio.
“I am extremely pleased to welcome these six outstanding universities to the American Athletic Conference,” said American Athletic Conference Board of Directors and Commissioner Mike Aresco. “This is a strategic expansion that accomplishes a number of goals as we take the conference into its second decade. We are adding excellent institutions that are established in major cities and have invested in competing at the highest level. We have enhanced geographical concentration which will especially help the conference’s men’s and women’s basketball and Olympic sports teams. And we will continue to provide valuable inventory to our major media rights partner, ESPN, which will feature our members on the most prominent platforms in sports media. Additionally, we increase the value in live content options for CBS Sports, which features selected men’s basketball games from the conference.”
Charlotte currently has a total of 18 varsity sports, all of which will now be competing in The American conference.