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Major Events in Charlotte


cltbwimob

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 This is a topic to discuss all things related to major events in Charlotte.  I have been thinking about starting a topic on this for a while, but the announcement that Charlotte may be making another bid for the X-Games brought it to the fore.  We have already hosted the DNC, multiple PGA events, and will be hosting the NBA all star game.  What other events would people like to see come to Charlotte?
 

Here is my bucket list:

-X-Games

-UCI World Cycling Championships (Richmond, my current city of residence, is hosting this event this year)

-Superbowl

-RNC

-Expo 2026 (formerly the World Fair)

-Pan Am Games in 2027 (hosted in a beautiful new stadium that could be converted into an MLB stadium to host the Tampa Bay Rays when they move away from St. Pete after the 2027 season)

-MLB All Star game circa 2030 (see above)

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 This is a topic to discuss all things related to major events in Charlotte.  I have been thinking about starting a topic on this for a while, but the announcement that Charlotte may be making another bid for the X-Games brought it to the fore.  We have already hosted the DNC, multiple PGA events, and will be hosting the NBA all star game.  What other events would people like to see come to Charlotte?
 

Here is my bucket list:

-X-Games

-UCI World Cycling Championships (Richmond, my current city of residence, is hosting this event this year)

-Superbowl

-RNC

-Expo 2026 (formerly the World Fair)

-Pan Am Games in 2027 (hosted in a beautiful new stadium that could be converted into an MLB stadium to host the Tampa Bay Rays when they move away from St. Pete after the 2027 season)

-MLB All Star game circa 2030 (see above)

At least you didn't say the Olympics.

Boston very wisely turned away that pompous, unctuous shake-down.

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 This is a topic to discuss all things related to major events in Charlotte.  I have been thinking about starting a topic on this for a while, but the announcement that Charlotte may be making another bid for the X-Games brought it to the fore.  We have already hosted the DNC, multiple PGA events, and will be hosting the NBA all star game.  What other events would people like to see come to Charlotte?
 

Here is my bucket list:

-X-Games

-UCI World Cycling Championships (Richmond, my current city of residence, is hosting this event this year)

-Superbowl

-RNC

-Expo 2026 (formerly the World Fair)

-Pan Am Games in 2027 (hosted in a beautiful new stadium that could be converted into an MLB stadium to host the Tampa Bay Rays when they move away from St. Pete after the 2027 season)

-MLB All Star game circa 2030 (see above)

Ask and you shall receive.  Looks like Charlotte wants to make another bid for the Summer X Games starting in 2018.

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2015/08/try-try-again-charlotte-wants-another-shot-at.html#i1

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Ask and you shall receive.  Looks like Charlotte wants to make another bid for the Summer X Games starting in 2018.

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2015/08/try-try-again-charlotte-wants-another-shot-at.html#i1

Uh...I think that announcement was the inspiration for this topic. =)

 

I'd like to see the Final Four back in Charlotte and I'd like to see the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament here MUCH more regularly. I think it's a SIN it will be in Brooklyn (DC is bad enough).

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Uh...I think that announcement was the inspiration for this topic. =)

 

I'd like to see the Final Four back in Charlotte and I'd like to see the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament here MUCH more regularly. I think it's a SIN it will be in Brooklyn (DC is bad enough).

Good to know I haven't lost my selective reading skills.

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Uh...I think that announcement was the inspiration for this topic. =)

 

I'd like to see the Final Four back in Charlotte and I'd like to see the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament here MUCH more regularly. I think it's a SIN it will be in Brooklyn (DC is bad enough).

I was under the impression that the TWC Arena wasn't large enough for the Final Four?

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Knoxville! Knoxville! Knoxville! 

I lived through the 1982 World's Fair in your Knoxville, Tennesssee. I was in law school at UT.

Every night, the 1982 World's Fair ("you've GOT to be THERE!") closed with fireworks. As the law library where I toiled away was but a few scant blocks from the 1982 World's Fair ("you've GOT to be THERE!") I had nearly 3 months of fireworks, night after night.

It was years before I could enjoy fireworks again.

Please no World's Fair. How embarrassing.

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I was under the impression that the TWC Arena wasn't large enough for the Final Four?

That's correct. Based on NCAA requirements now you essentially need a domed football or baseball stadium to host a Final Four. It used to be a 40k minimum as of a few years ago. I think it's even higher now. Like 60-70k. So unless the Panthers get a new retractable roof stadium this won't happen. But thats ok, we already have hosted it once before..

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Ask and you shall receive.  Looks like Charlotte wants to make another bid for the Summer X Games starting in 2018.

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2015/08/try-try-again-charlotte-wants-another-shot-at.html#i1

I though the previous bid was more of a Charlotte Motor Speedway kind of thing hence the completely laughable submission video that focused almost entirely on the motorsport aspect of the games. IIRC after people saw that we were immediately written off as a possibility. I think the X games would be a great get. Would be an amazing opportunity for the city to make some headway into alternative/extreme sports which, quite frankly, it doesnt have much of a reputation to speak of there and it could possibly be the catalyst for the city to finally build a proper skatepark as well.

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Hell, I'd like a skate park as an adult. 

Waxhaw has a skate park, y'know...

We almost had a skatepark thing until everyone thought it would be a good idea to pass on that and instead opt for Studio Charlotte (which I'm still bitter they passed the Park up for something that obviously would've never worked)

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We almost had a skatepark thing until everyone thought it would be a good idea to pass on that and instead opt for Studio Charlotte (which I'm still bitter they passed the Park up for something that obviously would've never worked)

Yeah. Though at least making Eastland a mixed-use community with a school and a park is also awesome. But I think people tend to view skate parks as magnets for "youth vagrancy". When really it's a healthy outlet to funnel all that energy and angst into.

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I was under the impression that the TWC Arena wasn't large enough for the Final Four?

You are right. I'm not sure either what the minimum seating capacity has to be but I think I read somewhere they were rethinking the mega-seating requirements. Still, this wish speaks to my bigger wishes of a retractable roof over BofA Stadium or its successor. I've always thought that was a missed opportunity.

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You are right. I'm not sure either what the minimum seating capacity has to be but I think I read somewhere they were rethinking the mega-seating requirements. Still, this wish speaks to my bigger wishes of a retractable roof over BofA Stadium or its successor. I've always thought that was a missed opportunity.

The last Final Four held in a non-domed stadium was in 1994 at the now-demolished Charlotte Coliseum.  The NCAA was thinking about moving to arenas but decided against it last year when they named the next 5-year rotation all in domes:

http://www.ncaa.com/futurefinalfour

I do believe building a roof over BofA Stadium was a missed opportunity.  The SkyDome had already been built by 1989 so the technology was there. 

The Charlotte Coliseum was built with capacity in mind so it could compete with Greensboro to host the ACC tourney.  Unfortunately that focus on capacity at the expense of luxury suites ended up being its downfall.  

BofA stadium is perfectly located, kinda like the Louisiana Superdome or GA Dome.  CLT would've hosted multiple Final Fours and probably even a Super Bowl by now if a retractable roof had been built.  :(

I've been beating the Pan Am drum for a while now.  Toronto just hosted the 2015 games and got some great infrastructural improvements as well as an athletes village out of it.  I don't see any reason why we can't host 2027.

The total bill was around $2B for the 2015 Pan Am Games.  Charlotte hasn't even found the money to expand the streetcar let alone bid for 2027 but we can do our simulation anyway: :)

The hardest part would be finding a track and field stadium.  Memorial seems perfect but it may already be converted into a soccer-specfic stadium by then with the MLS in mind.  It could host the soccer events.

Maybe JCSU's stadium could be temporarily expanded to host Track & Field.  JCSU and the west side could host the village with long-range housing in mind.  The Gold Line streetcar will go there by 2027 if all goes according to plan. 

BofA could host the Opening and Closing ceremonies like SkyDome did this year.

Vancouver and Toronto both got trains to their respective airports (YVR, YYZ) as a legacy of hosting the games.  That would be the best infrastructure improvement by far... 

 

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The hardest part would be finding a track and field stadium.  Memorial seems perfect but it may already be converted into a soccer-specfic stadium by then with the MLS in mind.  It could host the soccer events.

Maybe JCSU's stadium could be temporarily expanded to host Track & Field.  JCSU and the west side could host the village with long-range housing in mind.  The Gold Line streetcar will go there by 2027 if all goes according to plan. 

Just upgrade UNCC's Track and Field Stadium.  It's not that bad as it stands already.  When Sydney, AU hosted the Olympics in 2000, the Olympic village was built just about as far outside of the city as UNCC Charlotte is to Uptown and ended up having its own dedicated subway connecting it to the main lines as a result of the games.  Not to mention the Olympic athlete housing was built at Macquarie Uni (I got to live there for a semester in '04) which is about as far away from Downtown Sydney as campus is from Uptown.  And we (will) already have a dedicated mass transit line in place.  Sure the Pan Am games and the Olympics are two different beasts, but it's a worthwhile comparison.

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