Carolina Panthers Facilities

[Trickbot]

6 minutes ago, King of the Queen City said:

I could care less about hosting a Super Bowl in Charlotte right now. It would be much more important for our city to win a Super Bowl than to host it.  People forget where the Super Bowl was hosted as soon as it is over, but they remember who won it. New England has never hosted the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh has never hosted the Super Bowl. Seattle has never hosted the Super Bowl. Washington has never hosted the Super Bowl. Baltimore has never hosted the Super Bowl. Kansas City has never hosted the Super Bowl. Green Bay has never hosted the Super Bowl.  Speaking of Green Bay, Lambeau field is the only truly historic stadium left in the league. People travel there because they want to see a game there.  We have a classic stadium in great shape that helped usher in a new era of stadiums and it is located in the heart of Charlotte. True football fans want to see a game played outside, on real grass and dirt anyway. I am all for the new practice facility that has been discussed, but I think we should hang on to our stadium for the foreseeable future and continue to keep it in great shape. That said, I would rather us fund a new stadium than lose the team if it came down to it. I wish that people would stop stirring this pot though.

Those places have never hosted the superbowl because they have bad weather. The NFL if playing outside wants relatively warmer weather, the players hated playing in New Jersey at Metlife a few years ago, NYC only got it because it was NYC.  Hosting a Superbowl brings far more revenue and business to a city than winning one. The only thing you get winning one is a parade and a new shiny trophy in some display case. Charlotte is right onnthe edge of the temperature range in early February that the NFL would like for an outdoor game. 

Edited December 11, 2018 by Trickbot

[King of the Queen City]

2 minutes ago, Trickbot said:

Those places have never hosted the superbowl because they have bad weather. The NFL if playing outside wants relatively warmer weather, the players hated playing in New Jersey at Metlife a few years ago, NYC only got it because it was NYC.  Hosting a Superbowl brings far more revenue and business to a city than winning one. The only thing you get winning one is a parade and a new shiny trophy in some display case. Charlotte is right onnthe edge of the temperature range in early February that the NFL would like for an outdoor game. 

I agree that it brings revenue, but is it worth building a new stadium for just one game?  Technically we could bid for a Super Bowl with our current stadium if we really want it that bad.  If a new stadium is built outside of Uptown it would hurt the city more than it would help it.  The only reason we have not hosted more events is because Jerry Richardson didn’t want to.  I expect to see more concerts and other events hosted at our current stadium under new ownership.

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

4 hours ago, King of the Queen City said:

I agree that it brings revenue, but is it worth building a new stadium for just one game?  Technically we could bid for a Super Bowl with our current stadium if we really want it that bad.  If a new stadium is built outside of Uptown it would hurt the city more than it would help it.  The only reason we have not hosted more events is because Jerry Richardson didn’t want to.  I expect to see more concerts and other events hosted at our current stadium under new ownership.

If they can build a new stadium, that can attract a MLS team, and have the success of the MLS team in Atlanta, I'm in to spend 250mil in gov. subsidies/bonds.

[King of the Queen City]

1 hour ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

If they can build a new stadium, that can attract a MLS team, and have the success of the MLS team in Atlanta, I'm in to spend 250mil in gov. subsidies/bonds.

There’s a good chance MLS is coming anyway. Tepper seems very interested.

[TheOneRJ]

MLS isn’t coming, MLB isn’t coming, and nothing outside of the non sold out home games for the NFL will be coming to BOAS as long as it sits in its current state. 

[SouthEndCLT811]

3 hours ago, TheOneRJ said:

MLS isn’t coming, MLB isn’t coming, and nothing outside of the non sold out home games for the NFL will be coming to BOAS as long as it sits in its current state. 

Which is why I chime in on this topic and think a Miami style renovation of BoA like they did to the now Hard Rock Stadium is perfect.  Similar configuration beforehand, not a dome but provides covering for seating while reducing overall capacity but increase club areas which teams care about.  The total project was estimated $350M in 2015. Saw a 2017 article saying added amenities after the project kicked off pushed it over $500M

Edited December 11, 2018 by SouthEndCLT811

[InSouthPark]

3 hours ago, TheOneRJ said:

MLS isn’t coming, MLB isn’t coming, and nothing outside of the non sold out home games for the NFL will be coming to BOAS as long as it sits in its current state. 

Ahhhh....Panthers have one of the longest running home sellout streaks going and rank 7th in the NFL for paid attendance in 2018.   People not showing up doesn't mean those seats haven;t been sold. 

[KJHburg]

all  I can remember is back in the day in the late 1980s a sports writer from Phoenix said Charlotte would NEVER get a NBA franchise and the only franchise we would get is another McDonalds.     Oh I remember the skepticism about an NFL team is such as "small" market such as the Carolinas.    ye of little faith!    Betting against Charlotte is bad bet LOL!   

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

6 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

all  I can remember is back in the day in the late 1980s a sports writer from Phoenix said Charlotte would NEVER get a NBA franchise and the only franchise we would get is another McDonalds.     Oh I remember the skepticism about an NFL team is such as "small" market such as the Carolinas.    ye of little faith!    Betting against Charlotte is bad bet LOL!   

He's just saying a new stadium is the driver of additional new franchises. Not questioning the feasibility of Charlotte as a market.

[CLT2014]

7 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

all  I can remember is back in the day in the late 1980s a sports writer from Phoenix said Charlotte would NEVER get a NBA franchise and the only franchise we would get is another McDonalds.     Oh I remember the skepticism about an NFL team is such as "small" market such as the Carolinas.    ye of little faith!    Betting against Charlotte is bad bet LOL!   

LOL somebody from PHOENIX said that. bahahahaha

[King of the Queen City]

2 hours ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

He's just saying a new stadium is the driver of additional new franchises. Not questioning the feasibility of Charlotte as a market.

MLS actually favors smaller soccer specific stadiums over something like what was built in Atlanta, but they sometimes do agree to share.  If we were to build anything new to attract an MLS team then a soccer specific stadium would be the best bet. I could see Tepper doing something like this on the current Panthers practice field with the great skyline view in the background. If he decided to go the sharing stadium route then Bank of America Stadium has already proven that it can be a great host for soccer games.  As for MLB, it is 2018. No NFL team wants a baseball diamond in the middle of their field anymore. The only place where a MLB team still shares the field with an NFL team is Oakland and the Raiders are about to move to Vegas.  It was argued at one point that building BB&T Ballpark with a AAA team in mind was short sighted since the old one was built with MLB expansion in mind. The problem with the old one is that it was built in Fort Mill and attendance was awful until the Knights moved Uptown.  I do wish that BB&T Ballpark was built for future expansion, but honestly I think we could eventually find a creative way to retrofit it for MLB anyway.  Fenway Park is small and there is a lot of flexibility in what an MLB park can look like.  With declining attendance at MLB games, new ballparks are being built smaller anyway. If we add more seating to the outfield and stack upper decks to cover the existing seating we might could triple the capacity from 10,000 to 30,000.  We would still have the smallest ballpark in MLB by 7,000 seats but it would be a cool, more intimate game experience.

[InSouthPark]

7 minutes ago, King of the Queen City said:

. I could see Tepper doing something like this on the current Panthers practice field with the great skyline view in the background. If he decided to go the sharing stadium route then Bank of America Stadium has already proven that it can be a great host for soccer games.  

I measured a couple MLS stadiums and it would be a tight fit to try and get a MLS stadium on the current practice fields.  The smallest MLS stadium, Avaya, the stadium itself is 500' wide.   From the  curb to the sidewalk on Cedar to the train tracks wall, its about 490' at its widest part.   Length wise would be fine. 

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

1 hour ago, King of the Queen City said:

MLS actually favors smaller soccer specific stadiums over something like what was built in Atlanta, but they sometimes do agree to share.  If we were to build anything new to attract an MLS team then a soccer specific stadium would be the best bet. I could see Tepper doing something like this on the current Panthers practice field with the great skyline view in the background. If he decided to go the sharing stadium route then Bank of America Stadium has already proven that it can be a great host for soccer games.  As for MLB, it is 2018. No NFL team wants a baseball diamond in the middle of their field anymore. The only place where a MLB team still shares the field with an NFL team is Oakland and the Raiders are about to move to Vegas.  It was argued at one point that building BB&T Ballpark with a AAA team in mind was short sighted since the old one was built with MLB expansion in mind. The problem with the old one is that it was built in Fort Mill and attendance was awful until the Knights moved Uptown.  I do wish that BB&T Ballpark was built for future expansion, but honestly I think we could eventually find a creative way to retrofit it for MLB anyway.  Fenway Park is small and there is a lot of flexibility in what an MLB park can look like.  With declining attendance at MLB games, new ballparks are being built smaller anyway. If we add more seating to the outfield and stack upper decks to cover the existing seating we might could triple the capacity from 10,000 to 30,000.  We would still have the smallest ballpark in MLB by 7,000 seats but it would be a cool, more intimate game experience.

MLB stadium would certainly need its own stadium. I think MLS would be open to a shared facility with an NFL team if it had soccer specific amenities like Mercedes Benz has: soccer specific locker rooms, seats that can be moved to make sure the field length can be widened, grass surface (unlike MBS and Foxboro), and the ability to make the stadium upper deck seating hidden (like BC Place in Vancouver and MBS). Tepper needs to get moving with MLS as St. Louis is soon to be announced and Louisville, Austin and Sacramento could be announced soon as well. He has the pocketbook to match the spending power of any other owner. If he can exhibit the seriousness that Arthur Blank has, not the lack of seriousness that Stan Kroenke or Bob Kraft, I think he will be a MLS owner soon.

The first step could be announcing top flight soccer training facility at the new Panthers development in SC.

Edited December 11, 2018 by CarolinaDaydreamin

[Dale]

10 hours ago, TheOneRJ said:

MLS isn’t coming, MLB isn’t coming, and nothing outside of the non sold out home games for the NFL will be coming to BOAS as long as it sits in its current state. 

Tampa Bay Rays just said their Tampa deal is dead. Wonder if they look our way ?

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

https://www.postandcourier.com/news/carolina-panthers-plan-to-build-practice-facility-team-headquarters-in/article_7edc90a2-fd98-11e8-b43f-9baf45c6f9a4.html

Sounds like the Fort Mill site has been chosen, potentially with a light rail extension. It would be great if Tepper puts private funds to extend the Blue line to Ft. Mill (probably through Pineville).

[KJHburg]

^^^ and guess who is developing that former Charlotte Knights site none other than Lincoln Harris and the Cato family.  called Southbridge.   Hmmm Mr Tepper and Mr Harris working together wonder where else they could do that maybe uptown? 

http://lincolnharris.com/Listings/Developments.html

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

And consider the Harris' sold Tepper their Panthers ownership rights just a few months ago...

Edited December 12, 2018 by CarolinaDaydreamin

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

https://www.postandcourier.com/news/carolina-panthers-plan-to-build-practice-facility-team-headquarters-in/article_7edc90a2-fd98-11e8-b43f-9baf45c6f9a4.html

Sounds like the Fort Mill site has been chosen, potentially with a light rail extension. It would be great if Tepper puts private funds to extend the Blue line to Ft. Mill (probably through Pineville).

If a light rail extension gets built to this site, I'll eat my oldest and dirtiest shoe, no salt. This is all conjecture. I'm not saying the facility won't go in Fort Mill, it will, but I'm not buying this story yet.

Edited December 12, 2018 by Guest

[CLT2014]

Oh look! There's Cam and Ron riding the light rail to work together! Huge ridership boost. 

Edited December 12, 2018 by CLT2014

[TheOneRJ]

Wouldn’t be surprised if they relocate the stadium to SC either. Maybe they’ll receive some type of incentives to built a useful, up to date stadium since BOAS only receives new flooring every 3 years. 

The whole representation of both NC and SC is beyond annoying, though. Pick a state. 

Edited December 12, 2018 by TheOneRJ

[rancenc]

Isn't this proposal a mere shift from their current practice facilities in Spartanburg?  Not sure where the team's HQs are located at now.

[TheOneRJ]

1 minute ago, rancenc said:

Isn't this proposal a mere shift from their current practice facilities in Spartanburg?  Not sure where the team's HQs are located at now.

The current practice field is located across from the stadium near Johnson & Wales’ dorm and fitness building. 

[rancenc]

Just now, TheOneRJ said:

The current practice field is located across from the stadium near Johnson & Wales’ dorm and fitness building. 

OK...for some reason I thought Wofford College was stilling being utilized....thanks for the information

[InSouthPark]

15 minutes ago, rancenc said:

OK...for some reason I thought Wofford College was stilling being utilized....thanks for the information

That is just 3 weeks of training camp in August (but was still used this summer).

Edited December 12, 2018 by InSouthPark

[queensguy06]

1 hour ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

If a light rail extension gets built to this site, I'll eat my oldest and dirtiest shoe, no salt. This is all conjecture. I'm not saying the facility won't go in Fort Mill, it will, but I'm not buying this story yet.

Yeah...I'm still trying to figure this one out LOL.  If it's a blue line extension, there are only two feasible routes - both of which are 8 miles long.  You either go through downtown Pineville and then out past the flea market OR you run adjacent to the interstate (485 to 77 South).  Neither of these seem like economically sound decisions and would surely meet heavy public resistance as a waste of taxpayer dollars.  I just don't see this ever happening.