Charlotte could pump hundreds of millions in tax dollars into Bank of America Stadium as part of a major overhaul of the nearly 30-year-old facility.
And city leaders may act quickly to lock in the deal.
Tepper Sports & Entertainment, the ownership group led by the at-times controversial David Tepper, unveiled its highly anticipated plan Monday for the largest and most expensive renovation yet to the home of the Carolina Panthers and Major League Soccer’s Charlotte FC.
The plan, presented to the City Council’s economic development committee Monday, includes an ask for the city of Charlotte to contribute $650 million to the project, assistant city manager Tracy Dodson said. The deal would keep in the teams in Charlotte “for up to 20 years,” Dodson said.
The City Council got its first peak at a hypothetical deal more than a year ago in a closed meeting. Now, members could vote on the plan as soon as June 24, according to Monday’s presentation.
“This is a good opening proposal,” said council member Ed Driggs.
This is our home. This is our future. Welcome to the Crown Jewel of the Queen City.
We are excited to unveil a first look at the proposed renovation of Bank of America Stadium.#KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/n1JfPUK0QA
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) June 3, 2024
What changes are planned for Bank of America Stadium?
Among the highlights of the renovation:
New seats installed throughout the lower bowl
Improved accessibility throughout the facility for people with disabilities
Stadium safety and security enhancements, including improved lighting
A reimagined South Lawn Pavilion area that can be used as a community gathering spot and outdoor classroom on game days and non-event days
Upgraded restrooms
Exterior enhancement
Modernization of mechanical, plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems
A dome or roof is “not in our plans today,” said Caroline Wright, chief venue officer for Tepper Sports & Entertainment.
“This renovation is about modernizing the stadium to deliver elevated experiences while preserving the overall character and location that fans have known and loved for decades,” Panthers President Kristi Coleman said in a statement.
Where would city money come from?
The city’s contribution would come from hospitality tax revenue, city staff said, generated by taxes on prepared food and beverage sales. Money from those taxes must be used on tourism-related projects, including stadium renovations.
The General Assembly extended last year Mecklenburg County’s 1% meals tax — which covers prepared food and drinks sold at venues such as restaurants and bars — until 2060.
State Rep. John Bradford, a Mecklenburg County Republican, introduced a bill to extend a hotel occupancy tax, too. However, that bill stalled in a General Assembly committee.
Bradford told the Observer Monday he’s “pleased the meals tax extension is helping facilitate these discussions and opportunities.”
“The local hospitality industry has been actively engaged in this process and initiative. I trust that City Council will work with the hospitality industry to support the proposed renovations and modernization of the BoA stadium,” he said.
In addition to the $650 million in public money, $688 million will come from Tepper Sports and Entertainment, the Panthers said in a statement — $117 million already spent on the stadium, $150 million for immediate renovations and $421 million for anticipated future renovation costs and capital improvements.
‘Biggest project’: Charlotte City Council reacts
Committee chairman Malcolm Graham, whose District 2 includes parts of uptown, said council members will “ask a wide variety of questions” in the coming weeks.
“I think this is a good introduction. The devil is always in the details,” he said of the presentation.
But it’s not the city council’s introduction to stadium renovation options. City officials previously met in closed session in January 2023 to discuss a $1.2 billion hypothetical project for stadium improvements using $600 million in public money, Charlotte Observer news partner WSOC previously reported.
“We’re probably looking at the biggest project we have ever funded in the history of Charlotte,” Council member James “Smuggie” Mitchell said at Monday’s committee meeting.
City staff and the Tepper Sports team both stressed the economic benefits the city gets from the stadium at the meeting. Dodson said in her presentation the stadium had a $1.1 billion economic impact in the Charlotte area in 2023.
In a statement, the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance said it was thankful to the “Tepper organization for being willing to make such a critical investment in this community’s future, and urges the City Council to do the same.”
“Bank of America Stadium is a vital ingredient in any economic development formula, and one of the most important assets in the Charlotte region,” the group said. “From sporting events to concerts, the stadium raises the bar on our quality of life and gives Charlotte the ultimate competitive advantage for businesses and talent. In order to remain competitive, we must play to win. An upgraded stadium allows this region to do that.”
Will community get behind Bank of America Stadium renovations?
The $650 million ask is less than some communities have paid for new stadiums.
The Buffalo Bills, for instance, completed a deal in October 2022 with the state of New York and Erie County for $850 million from taxpayers to pay for a new stadium.
A mix of private and public funding is typical for such renovations. Still, the terms of Tepper’s new request is far more than the city of Charlotte has previously invested in a sports venue.
It remains to be seen how the public reacts to the Tepper Sports & Entertainment solicitation, which city staff will collect community feedback on in the coming weeks.
On one hand, Bank of America Stadium needs renovations, according to a recent survey.
The Athletic in 2023 ranked the uptown stadium 22nd out of 30 NFL stadiums. And the gameday experience, at least to a handful of longtime season-ticket holders The Observer interviewed earlier this year, doesn’t measure up to the game-day costs, fans said.
On the other hand, the reaction could be a mixed one given the state of the Panthers’ franchise.
The Panthers haven’t had a winning season since 2017, the year before Tepper purchased the team from Richardson in 2018. On-field issues came to a head when Carolina finished a league-worst 2-15 in 2023 — a year that forced Tepper to hire a third coach in three seasons and a second general manager in his tenure.
The past 12 months also produced off-field moments that impacted Tepper’s public perception. That included a drink-tossing incident that resulted in a $300,000 fine from the NFL and a friendly Tepper appearance at a local bar after the establishment presented the sign on its property: “PLEASE LET THE COACH & GM PICK THIS YEAR.”
Charlotte FC, also owned by Tepper, is having its best season to date in MLS this year with its third coach in as many years.
Residents can give feedback on the plan and ask questions at charlottenc.gov/stadium.
When will stadium renovations happen?
If city leaders and the community do back the team’s renovation plans, it’ll still be years before all the work is done.
In a presentation Monday, Tepper Sports & Entertainment presented a three-phase timeline to the city.
The first phase, which is currently in progress, includes: finalizing Bank of America Stadium’s master plan, completing an underway rezoning for a field house/practice facility and constructing that fieldhouse.
The second phase, which is scheduled to run from this year to June 2026, includes ensuring the city, residents and Tepper Sports are satisfied with the fieldhouse and stadium construction plans.
The third phase, which will run through August 2029, involves finishing construction of the fieldhouse and stadium. The Panthers want to start fieldhouse construction in 2024 and stadium renovations in 2026. There are also four parts of stadium construction that Tepper Sports wants all finished by 2029.
Panthers stadium history
The history of the uptown stadium starts well before it opened in 1996. That story begins in 1993, when the founding owner of the Carolina Panthers, Jerry Richardson, brought an NFL franchise to the Carolinas and started selling tickets. In the franchise’s first season, the Panthers played their home games in Clemson, South Carolina, before moving in 1996 to what was then-called Ericsson Stadium.
The stadium’s name changed to Bank of America Stadium in 2004, a naming rights deal that was extended last December.
The stadium’s construction was made possible by several revenue streams at the dawn of the Panthers’ franchise. Among them was the Max Muhleman innovation known as the Permanent Seat License — a policy employed by TSE sports teams that requires fans to pay a one-time fee for a PSL in order to have access to pay for season tickets. The PSL system allowed PSL owners control of those tickets and who would own them next (like their children, for instance); many PSL owners today bought their seats before the stadium was constructed and are thus etched into the stadium’s history.
The concept was instrumental to the NFL expanding to Charlotte, and it contributed more than $100 million to the stadium’s eventual cost of around $187 million, the Observer previously reported.
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