David Tepper talks Charlotte FC’s debut, training HQ after mini-pitch dedication at school

CHARLOTTE — Breaking the single-match attendance record with a sellout crowd of nearly 75,000 people. Fans delivering an a cappella version of the national anthem after a microphone glitch. And beating Premier League club Chelsea FC in July.

Those moments from Charlotte FC’s debut season resonated most, not just for many fans, but for team owner David Tepper, too. This week, following a mini-soccer field dedication at Nations Ford Elementary — a mini-pitch, in soccer parlance — Tepper spoke with reporters for a few minutes about Charlotte FC and cited those as highlights.

“I have to say, when we beat Chelsea in this stadium, 60 million people worldwide saw Charlotte that day on the web,” Tepper said, referring to social-media discussions of the match and other coverage. “Okay, they got so many visits. And it really put Charlotte, not in the United States of America, but in the world, because the people that hate Chelsea, they were watching.”

The field dedication was funded by the Major League Soccer team and the charitable foundation backed by David Tepper and his wife, Nicole Tepper, who is the chief administrative officer at Tepper Sports & Entertainment. Tepper Sports is the entity created by David Tepper to run the NFL Carolina Panthers, Bank of America Stadium and Charlotte FC.

David Tepper declined to discuss topics other than the MLS team, including a question about ongoing legal maneuvers in the bankruptcy case involving the abandoned Panthers’ headquarters project in Rock Hill.

Read the full story and check out photos of the event here.

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Behind the scenes: U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute down to Charlotte FC game

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