Will ticket-price backlash hurt Charlotte FC? Experts weigh in

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte’s new Major League Soccer team last month unveiled ticket prices and disclosed that one-time seat licenses would be required for all but a handful of tickets. Since then, the most ardent fans and supporters’ groups have lashed out at owner David Tepper and the team for opting to enter the league with some of the highest prices while bringing seat licenses to MLS for the first time.

Tepper agreed to pay an MLS-record $325 million expansion fee in December 2019 to land the Charlotte team. He also owns the NFL Carolina Panthers and Bank of America Stadium, which the Panthers will share with the soccer team — Charlotte FC — beginning next year.

“In football, PSLs are a tried-and-true method of raising funds” for stadiums, sports business consultant Marc Ganis told CBJ. “For soccer, this is not a common usage. This may be the first, but it’s also the highest expansion fee ever paid to MLS and the stadium is undergoing renovations with a meaningful amount of private funds. There are reasons why this would be appropriate for this to be the first.”

Read the full story here for more about what Ganis and multiple other industry experts had to say about the pricing model and its impact on the team.

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