EXPERT: Panthers owner, when named, will seek public money to renovate stadium

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By DaShawn Brown

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — City leaders have made it no secret keeping the Panthers in Charlotte is a priority.

In a statement on YouTube this week, Charlotte Chamber of Commerce CEO Bob Morgan said the chamber is continuing in its push to rally local business owners to keep the team in the city.

[SPECIAL SECTION: Panthers for sale]

“We ask and encourage all elected officials to join in the effort to retain the Carolina Panthers and to be an open-minded to all potential solutions to meet this opportunity,” he said.

Thursday, NFL Writer Daniel Kaplan told Channel 9 regardless of who emerges as the new Panthers owner, that person will almost certainly ask for public funding to renovate the stadium.

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“I’m not going to comment on whether that’s good or bad but it’s not unusual at all and teams will all but threaten to relocate if they don’t get it.”

Kaplan, based in New York, also covers finance for the Sports Business Journal.

“Often the municipality does come up with the money,” Kaplan said.  “You saw that in Minnesota which just hosted the Super Bowl.  $455 million of public money went into that stadium.’

Bank of America stadium opened in 1996 in Uptown Charlotte. Now, at just over 20 years old, Kaplan says the stadium is nearing its shelf life in the NFL before talks of a new stadium, or improvements emerge.  He says that usually happens within 20-30 years.

“Whomever buys the team, assuming there is a new buyer clearly will be looking for some public money to renovate the stadium.”

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