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Experts weigh in on what Panthers HQ, and naming rights for it, could be worth

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers stand to reap $2 million to $4 million annually by selling the name to a planned practice and training headquarters, an industry expert told the Charlotte Business Journal on Friday.

And that’s before revenue from surrounding restaurant, retail and hotel development around a Panthers headquarters is considered. Last week, the NFL franchise stepped up talks with South Carolina lawmakers and Gov. Henry McMaster to land incentives for a $150 million project that would be built near Charlotte, across the state line in York or Lancaster County.

Rob Yowell, president at Phoenix-based Gemini Sports Group, a company that works with teams and companies on sponsorships and naming agreements, estimated a price tag of $2 million to $4 million per year if the Panthers sell the rights to a new practice center. Yowell noted that, in many cases, NFL teams choose to expand existing agreements with health-care providers or negotiate new ones to put a corporate name on practice headquarters.

Examples abound. Saint Thomas Health has its name on the Tennessee Titans’ practice facility, joining the likes of Twin Cities Orthopedics and the Minnesota Vikings, UCHealth and the Denver Broncos, and Inova Health and the Washington Redskins.

Click here to read more here and check out what some other NFL teams are doing with their complexes.