COLUMBIA — College sports continues to be one of the main vehicles used by the NAACP in its decade-long boycott of the Confederate flag in South Carolina.

The Palmetto State has lost millions in potential revenue and prestige that comes with hosting marquee NCAA events. And with no end to the dispute insight, the losses will continue.

There seemed to be an opening for South Carolina when the Atlantic Coast Conference awarded its baseball tournament to Myrtle Beach earlier this year, but that door was closed last Monday when it pulled the event for 2011-13 out of the Grand Strand.

"When you're a multi-billion dollar industry," NAACP state president Lonnie Randolph says of sports, "that tells you you've got come clout."

The boycott started on Jan. 1, 2000. The NCAA executive committee decided soon after it would not award predetermined championships like basketball regionals to South Carolina.

Though the Southern Conference, headquartered in Spartanburg, has hosted several postseason tournaments in the state. However, the NCAA's position has been an effective tool for the NAACP.

The ACC and Southeastern Conference have largely followed the NCAA's lead the past decade.

Richard Lapchick, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, said Friday that the early stance by NCAA laid the groundwork on future sports groups and how they've dealt with the Confederate flag.

When the NCAA takes a stand, "it carries a lot of weight and gets a lot of attention," Lapchick said.

Though when the ACC decided in May to have its baseball tournament in South Carolina, it surprised some like Randolph — who had had a solid dialogue with league coaches and administrators.

If the ACC had kept its plans, what was next? Could South Carolina, with its Olympic gold medal winning coach Dawn Staley and it's modern, 18,000-seat arena host the SEC women's tournament? And would that erode the NCAA's stance?

The ACC's reversal calmed those fears, Randolph said.

In May, the NAACP adopted a national resolution condemning the ACC for playing in South Carolina.

"Is there a way to de-condemn them?" Randolph said with a chuckle. "I'll certainly propose that."

Both conferences say they consider proposals to host championships in South Carolina on a case-by-case basis. But it seems clear the Confederate flag has been a sticking point.

The SEC hasn't been back since the 2005 women's basketball championships in Greenville. The ACC's last major competition here was the 2001 baseball tournament in Fort Mill.

Opponents say the flag is a symbol of bigotry and oppression; supporters say it stands for heritage.

To Randolph, it's no surprise sports have proved a fertile field for advancing the NAACP's message. He cited examples of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier in 1947, and the black-gloved salute of Olympic sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith on the medal stand at the 1968 Mexico City Games.

"The sports arena has always had its pulse on civil rights," Randolph said. "And it still does today."

There's been little question of that in South Carolina. Once the boycott was called on Jan. 1, 2000, sports figures and teams rushed to protest — or avoid South Carolina if possible.

State lawmakers voted to move the flag from the Capitol Dome where it flew beneath the U.S. and state flags to a Confederate soldier's monument near in front of the building. However, the NAACP said the banner was more visible at its new location. Things have not changed and some of the issue's largest headlines came from the sports world.

ACC associate commissioner of championships Davis Whitfield told The Associated Press in May the climate had changed in the state, opening the way for the baseball tournament. The league believed all local and state NAACP leaders supported the bid.

"It has become clear this was not the case," ACC commissioner John Swofford said recently.

Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, was angered by the ACC's pullout. He was part of what he termed a "gentleman's compromise" to move the flag in 2000 and said there's no plans to revisit the issue. "When a tournament wants to come to South Carolina, it helps all South Carolinians," he said. The NAACP "should seize the economic opportunities. ... I think the boycotts are flying in the face of what they allegedly say they're trying to achieve."