Perception of Charlotte Nationwide

[KJHburg]

the Washington Post for a long time as mostly used Charlotte without the NC.  

all I can say this All Star Weekend has been very good for Charlotte as it has a national and international tv audience.  I think it showcased the city well.  Of course not quite over yet with the All Star game tonight but so far it has been very good. 

[Hushpuppy321]

I’m hoping TNT continues to showcase the City Skyline during the All-Star Game tonight at 8pm

[Dandy Chiggens]

2 hours ago, Tyrone Wiggum said:

I’ll just leave this here.

/hope Tepper signs him. 30 years from now our kids will look back and ask what the hell was wrong with us

So you want to pay him $20 million to back up Cam?  Makes sense.  Lets give the guy who lost his starting job to Blaine Gabbert starting QB money.

[HighRiseHillbilly]

What are the odds that we would be able to score this NBA event again in the future? Does it tend to repeat cities at all? 

[Crucial_Infra]

2 minutes ago, HighRiseHillbilly said:

What are the odds that we would be able to score this NBA event again in the future? Does it tend to repeat cities at all? 

It’ll be many many years before it returns. Only a select few smaller metros have had it more than twice (New Orleans being one). Next year, it’s in Indianapolis for only the second time. 

[Temeteron]

33 minutes ago, Crucial_Infra said:

It’ll be many many years before it returns. Only a select few smaller metros have had it more than twice (New Orleans being one). Next year, it’s in Indianapolis for only the second time. 

Wikipedia says Chicago is hosting it next year 

[Crucial_Infra]

4 minutes ago, Temeteron said:

Wikipedia says Chicago is hosting it next year 

My mistake. Indy hosts it in 2020. Cleveland in 2021. It’ll be only the 2nd time for both those cities. And it’s only the third time for Chicago. Point remains: NBA All-star games don’t come around often. Charlotte should focus on a Super Bowl or NFL Draft. The All-star game won’t be back for another 25 years or more. 

[Crucial_Infra]

Not sure I understand why people care so much about the crowd than the event but these twitter comments about the crowd have been steady all weekend and they are brutal tonight. Not watching. Is it as bad as they say?

Edited February 18, 2019 by Crucial_Infra

[HighRiseHillbilly]

Aren't most of the fans from other places hence the filled hotels, etc?

[CLT2014]

I'd be shocked if even 10% of the crowd at Spectrum Center is a Charlotte local tonight.

Edited February 18, 2019 by CLT2014

[KJHburg]

1 minute ago, CLT2014 said:

I'd be shocked if even 10% of the crowd at Spectrum Center is a Charlotte local tonight.

Exactly what i was thinking full of former players,  sponsors etc.  Just like the SuperBowl crowd is never like a playoff game with the teams home fans are all there. 

[HopHead]

The social media responses about the crowd are dumb.  The majority of the crowd are corporate biz types or celebs that were gifted tickets and only care about seeing the LeBrons, Kevin Durants, etc. I've been a season ticket holder for 10 years. There was a lottery for a select number and tickets, I was never picked. One of my buddies did get a pair and sold his for some insane amount of money. So yes, it's probably a small percentage of actual Charlotte fans at this game. 

Edited February 18, 2019 by HopHead

[Skyybutter]

I drove into Charlotte yesterday around noon from Concord. No traffic to speak of at all. Just normal Sunday traffic most likely die to church"s letting out with some event traffic of course. I expected much more once I got onto 77, but no. Same thing for 277. There was some activity around Bojangles arena. As I made my way back to concord at arounf 2pm, I noticed traffic had picked up some. The concord Mills exit was backed up for at least .25 miles maybe 1/2 mile. I took Poplar Tent exit 52 with no issues at all. 

As I watched the news over the weekend I didn't feel the energy or see the "mobs" of people I had expected. I think that Charlotte did a good job though. No major crimes. No major traffic accidents etc. I think the CPD might have deterred some people bacuse of just how tight security was. There was no reason that the city shouldn't have been all but crawling with traffic and uptown should have been super super busy. Rain or not. Just like NYC on any normal day, the show must go on.  

Charlotte, I believe, may be suffering from a bit of  fatigue in many ways. The locals have dealt with the Panthers shake up. The Hornets are just now becoming good enoough to get people excited. But at the same time we hear of MLS and then theres the Knights baseball, and the unreal ,never-ending road construction all over the metro. And then you have the record amount of commercial and residential construction taking shape Uptown, Southend, Midtown. The BLE was a headache for years. 

All this to say, unless you were an AVID NBA fan, with thousands to spend, there was little point for locals to go uptown save for those living there. If the out of town crowd was relying on Charlotte to carry the entire event, that was dumb and makes no sense to me. 

And like previous post have said, chances are very few local fans were able to get seats. The event was more so for out of towners then locals IMO. 

Let them put us down. Theres always a group that does. But Charlotte just pulled off an event that was delayed, rightfully so, for two years. The event sorta had a dark cloud over its head due to former Governor Pat McCrory and HB2.

[Crucial_Infra]

^ I think this is an excellent assessment. Charlotteans have seen a lot and been through so much recently. Your list didn’t even include the riot from 2016 or the upcoming RNC either. Bottom line: there’s been a lot of activity/drama in the QC in the past few years. Some good, some not. And while those growing pains are to be expected in a booming city looking to find its way, there’s no shame in getting fatigued by it.

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

^eh, I don't listen to the trolls from online chat forums or comments sections.  No matter where the all-star or whatever big event, the host city always get those comments from other ppl (haters).

As far as foot traffic, I personally was walking around 2pm on saturday and left Uptown after the skills challenge.  The streets and sidewalks were all SUPER busy.  It really did have that NYC hustle and bustle feel.  A lot of restaurants had private parties and events.  PPL were out the doors waiting for pop up shops.  A lot of street vendors.  It was cool seeing.

Season ticket holders did have a lottery system for tickets to the all star events at face value without having to purchase the VIP packages like the rest of the public.  Not sure how big the allotment was but I'm sure a few thousand.

Like you said though, overall I think the city represented well despite the cooler/wet weather.  TNT and ESPN did a great job showcasing the city.  And the biggest thing, no major (bad) events occurred over the weekend.  All we can ask for at the end of the day.

[KJHburg]

I was uptown on Friday night around 8 pm and the traffic was bumper to bumper along College St and both directions on Tryon.   And there were tons of people on the streets and sidewalks on Tryon and College.  The weather was warm and not raining and I think that contributed to it.  However I came in from the suburbs normally but I knew exactly where to park and go (which was to take 277 around uptown and get off right by Nascar Hall of Fame)   I got into no traffic. 

I think the local media did a good job of scaring others away from uptown this past weekend.  When I went to the Olympics in Atlanta in 96 they said the same thing and I had no problems getting down there and around the city.  

We have 2 more basketball tournaments to come CIAA and the ACC

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/02/18/photos-nba-all-star-game-caps-busy-star-studded.html?iana=hpmvp_clt_news_headline

Overall this was a great weekend for Charlotte.  Yes the weather could have been better but it was not as bad as it could be this time of year (think snow and ice) and hotels and restaurants and bars citywide had great revenues.  There were no big incidents except for tourist being shot outside of the Onyx club and another incident at a strip club on Little Rock.  

My photo of College St. Friday night. 

[Dale]

19 hours ago, Tyrone Wiggum said:

I’ll just leave this here.

/hope Tepper signs him. 30 years from now our kids will look back and ask what the hell was wrong with us

Reports that Kaep is willing to sign with the AAF for the love of the game ... and eight figures.

[Crucial_Infra]

This tweet made me laugh. 

 

[Guest]

Not sure I understand why people care so much about the crowd than the event but these twitter comments about the crowd have been steady all weekend and they are brutal tonight. Not watching. Is it as bad as they say?

I was there, yea it was dead. It’s not the crowds fault tho, I wish the greatest players in the world would play defense. Playing nba 2K19 in beginner mode is boring too. It was great to watch but not competitive until the last 7 min. Great crowds are born off of competitive play not teams combining 67 for 167 from 3, and an occasional great dunk.

Plus, 12 5 min timeouts, 15 min quarter breaks and a 45 min halftime got tiring. Yes my hangover from the parties the night before made me a grumpy 34 year old but still. I had fun but it was soooo long, and the merch was so bad. Had a goal to buy a starter jacket, which would have sold so fast, and they had nothing hornets what so ever.


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[CLT704]

It's a shame that people can't even get the basics right, let alone Charlotte, NC vs Charlotte, SC (which is quite common):

 

Edited February 19, 2019 by CLT704

[KJHburg]

The ignorance of geography in this country is OFF the charts and that includes the media.   No one is taught geography anymore. 

[CLT2014]

In addition to the geography lesson, they might want to make a map of Vox. Ironically at Vox, the place they work might be more white than the place they live: https://www.voxmedia.com/a/go-deeper/leadership

If they made a map of Vox, would it be 1% black? 

Vox Media Product Team:

 

Edited February 19, 2019 by CLT2014

[CLT2014]

Observer's take on All Star Weekend: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/scott-fowler/article226198245.html

"Who won the NBA All-Star Game? The city of Charlotte, which did itself proud."

Television ratings for this years All Star Game were down slightly, to a 5.0 Nielsen rating from a 5.1 the year before. It was the most watched show on cable Sunday night and overall ratings were good when you consider the increased amount of streaming media interaction. The NBA went all out to engage via social media as well. 
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article226429455.html

For comparison though, while this was the biggest event Charlotte has hosted due to all the spectacle in the city itself, the TV ratings (and thus mass amount of people seeing the city skyline, etc...) for All Star are lower than your average NFL game. The Panthers-Saints nationally televised game in December on Monday Night Football had a 9.1 Nielsen rating for example. 

Edited February 19, 2019 by CLT2014

[Desert Power]

9 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

I was there, yea it was dead. It’s not the crowds fault tho, I wish the greatest players in the world would play defense. Playing nba 2K19 in beginner mode is boring too. It was great to watch but not competitive until the last 7 min. Great crowds are born off of competitive play not teams combining 67 for 167 from 3, and an occasional great dunk.

Plus, 12 5 min timeouts, 15 min quarter breaks and a 45 min halftime got tiring. Yes my hangover from the parties the night before made me a grumpy 34 year old but still. I had fun but it was soooo long, and the merch was so bad. Had a goal to buy a starter jacket, which would have sold so fast, and they had nothing hornets what so ever.


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There was no defense at Rising Stars either, but it was a shorter game with shorter breaks so it was a really fun time.  Tickets being cheap didn't hurt either.

[j-man]

CIAA weekend will be next week and is expected to be almost like a repeat of All Star weekend sort of. Around the same amount of visitors, Lots of celebrities, parties, and events, but do not expect many ticket sales to the actual sporting events as they are usually empty. Read a few articles that said between 100 to 140 thousand people will be visiting the city. So its back to back great economic weekends for the Queen City.  

https://tourneyparties.com/2019-ciaa-week-celebrity-parties/

Edited February 19, 2019 by j-man