What The 49ers Can Learn From The Panthers Stadium Renovation

Whether you're a fan of the Charlotte Green and 49ers Gold or not, you should care about the impact the 49ers new stadium expansion could have on the University City area.

The Carolina Panthers went 5-12 in 2024. Despite that, they averaged 70,612 fans a game depending on where you look. In total, 635,515 fans attended their 9 home games this past season. (Pay attention to that number, it’ll come in handy later.) That’s roughly in the middle of the NFL’s 2024 stadium attendance rankings. Despite the subpar performance, it’s clear that Charlotte residents are passionate about the Panthers and want to see them succeed.

Apparently, it’s so clear to the city of Charlotte that in June of this past year, that they approved a $1.3 billion stadium renovation to Bank of America Stadium. The renovation will include:

• New seats (though not a seating increase)

• Video boards on the inside and outside of the stadium

• A patio in the 500 level

• Improved concessions,

• Improvements to walkability around the stadium and a new south lawn

• Improved accessibility, safety, and security features

• Efforts to reduce their impact on our environment through modernizations of the HVAC, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems.

Charlotte taxpayers will contribute $650 million and Tepper Sports and Entertainment will foot the other $688 million. Tepper’s contributions will include $150 million in facility improvements, $421 million in capital improvements, and $117 million in improvements that have already happened between 2018 and 2024.

Sorry, let me be clear. David Tepper, the 94th richest billionaire on the planet, is asking Charlotte taxpayers to pay for 50% of a stadium renovation to a stadium HE OWNS.

This deal is so dy-no-mite that it earned the city of Charlotte a championship! Every year, the Center For Economic Accountability gives out an award for “The Worst Economic Development Deal of The Year.” North Carolina’s actually got a bit of a dynasty going on here. This is their third award in seven years! The CEA cites its high cost, lack of transparency, poor returns, and questionable economic justification as the reasons that they decided to bestow this ‘honor’ upon Charlotte. According to the CEA, $650 million is more than it will take to run the city’s fire department, police department, and solid waste services. The site also mentions Tepper’s previous economic disasters, including the Panthers’ failing effort to move their practice facility to Rock Hill, and his attempt to move his soccer team’s HQ to the former Eastland Mall site. Something also mentioned in the article was that the City Council was less than transparent about the deal. There were only 3 weeks between the June 3rd announcement and the June 24th meeting to cast the final vote. In fact, some members of the council claimed they hadn’t been given enough time to fully study the deal. The City Council also tried to push the deal through without public opinion. When pressured, they tried an online approach in which people could submit to a “public feedback form.” It’s rumored that oppositional opinions outnumbered supportive ones 4 to 1 in the online forum. When pressured again, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles even tried to claim that their closed meetings counted as ‘public discussions.’ Eventually, the City Council caved and held a meeting open to the public, which featured arguments from both supporters and the opposition. This meeting did not affect the outcome of the decision, as the vote was 7-3 in favor of the renovation.

So what would Charlotte’s citizens earn back from a renovated stadium that they might not have even wanted? In return, David Tepper has agreed to keep the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte for another 20 years. Also, according to the city, this renovation would generate $22 billion in total economic impact with an additional $1.1 billion in tax revenue, according to a statement quoted by WBTV.

That would be fantastic IF it were a certifiable figure.

A recent report commissioned by Tepper Sports and Entertainment estimates that BoA Stadium currently generates $1.2 billion a year in the Charlotte metro area. Paige Masten of the Charlotte Observer wrote an article in which a professor from UNC Charlotte challenges this claim. Dr. Craig Depken II is a Department Chair of Charlotte’s Economics program and in the article, he pushes back on this figure. He presents two main arguments. First, the economic impact of some improvements can be difficult to calculate. Here’s Depken’s argument from the article:

It’s a nuanced discussion, Depken added, and the true economic benefit or impact of a renovation like this is often difficult to calculate. There’s certainly more economic benefit to having a stadium than not having one, but the difference between a renovated stadium and a non-renovated one is harder to pinpoint.

“How do you get to $1 billion of economic impact by having a new Jumbotron? I’ve seen renderings of the Jumbotron; it looks beautiful,” Depken said. “But how do we get a connection from some multimillion-dollar Jumbotron to more pizzas being bought at Mellow Mushroom? That’s where economists struggle.”

The article also references something known as “The Baade Rule,” which simply states that when a board or consultant tells you the economic impact of a stadium renovation in a statement, you should move that decimal place one space to the left. It’s a bit cheeky, but the sentiment remains the same. These entities promising huge economic impact are often pumping up the statistics to make themselves look and sound good. If that’s true, the stadium is currently only generating Charlotte $120 million a year. The second argument Dr. Depken brings up is that no one has seen this report. It’s not published online and is only mentioned briefly in a slideshow from the city of Charlotte’s website. Instead of relying on a possibly made-up figure, you cooooould look to the past to see what other stadium moves, renovations, or builds predicted and then what actually happened. Unfortunately, you’d see that these economic impact predictions are largely mumbo jumbo, hogwash, or balderdash that PR firms push to justify their actions. To even make $1.1 billion in tax revenue alone, Neil deMause of Field of Schemes argues that each fan that attends a home game would have to spend an extra $1149 per game.

To recap: The city of Charlotte and David Tepper are relying on residents to help them pay for a stadium renovation that probably won’t make nearly as much money as they say it will.

Benson, you’ve written a little over 1,000 words on the Carolina Panthers. I thought this was a Charlotte 49ers blog.

It is! If you’ve made it this far, thank you! I didn’t want to write all those words about the Carolina Panthers, I had to. It was important context.

Charlotte’s Jerry Richardson Stadium is getting a renovation if its own. The stadium reno is actually part of Charlotte’s (the university, not the city) plan for the future called The EverGreen Athletics Master Vision. It’s a 12-15-year plan with the goal of improving current athletic facilities and building new ones. The project is multi-phase, with Phase 1 planned to cost $102 million. Besides the stadium reno, Phase 1 is set to include a new baseball clubhouse, an enhancement to their football facility, renovations to their men’s and women’s basketball locker rooms, a new soccer and lacrosse stadium, and a new softball clubhouse.

Fun Fact: Their new baseball clubhouse will empty their current one, the Wells Fargo Fieldhouse, which will be used as the new base of operations for their women’s lacrosse team. They are set to begin their inaugural season this Saturday, February 1st at home vs. Furman at home in Jerry Richardson Stadium. Come out and show your support!

Okay, back to the stadium talk. A main priority of the renovation is going to be increasing seating from 15,314 to roughly 18,100 in the early stages to ultimately be able to seat 21,000 fans. In addition to a general increase in seating, Phase 1 of the project is also going to include the building of a tower over the western side of the stadium. The stadium renovation will cost $60 million with an additional $10 to cover the cost of dining equipment. It is currently fully funded. The latest info I’ve seen on the groundbreaking has it starting in August 2025 and completion is slated for early 2027. Included in the increase is the addition of more premium seating, including:

• Suites

• Loge boxes

• Ledge seating

• An indoor club

• East and west deck patio space.

The new club will serve as a dedicated student-athlete dining area year around and conference room available in the offseason. Charlotte is also planning press facility upgrades and other additional fan services. (TBD)

In tandem with the expansion, Charlotte announced a new deal with Legends Hospitality to manage the fan experience on campus. They partnered with Legends to not only assist in elevating the stadium experience but to assist with the sales of the premium seats in Uptown. They’ll be opening a new space in the CO-LAB of the UNC Charlotte City Center. Fans looking for information about premium seating should be able to visit in early 2025.

Okay, so the Panthers are renovating their stadium, and it’s not an ideal situation. Are you saying the same thing about the 49ers?

No! The 49ers need a bigger stadium! From 2023 to 2024 Charlotte’s home attendance increased by 13.35%, the 14th most in FBS. Over five years, Charlotte is the 23rd most with an increase of 16.45%. (Though I’d be careful including anything with 2020 in regards to attendance) They’re currently 3rd to last in FBS stadium capacity, in front of only Sam Houston and newly appointed Kennesaw State. 18,000 seats would put them between UMass and Coastal Carolina, and a bump up to 21,000 would nestle them between Coastal Carolina and Western Kentucky. An increase in stadium size is a.) a great recruiting tool and b.) a sure-fire way to increase revenue.

Charlotte’s stadium capacity and lack of revenue are surely being used against us on the recruiting trail. In the AAC 2025 recruiting rankings, Charlotte is currently 10th in the AAC 247Sports recruiting rankings, in front of Temple, which might not even have a football program much longer, UAB, the school that failed to replicate the Deion Sanders Experience, and the United States Naval Academy. Albin and his staff have been hard at work in the transfer portal. So far, the staff has a crew of 15 players transferring in and a signing class of 7 commits. When Albin gets his chance at a full cycle, it will be interesting to see if he can beef up in-state recruiting efforts. He certainly has a history of doing more with less. Over his four years at Ohio, the team never ranked above 102nd in recruiting classes and despite that Ohio was able to win three straight 10-win seasons and is 2-0 in bowl games there.

Recruiting in college football has changed. Coaches now have to recruit year-round as they try and bring in new players and keep players on the roster who are thinking of transferring. There’s a pressure to build the best roster every year, for that particular season. Doing so is hard enough without the worry of losing your best players. Group of Five programs find themselves losing more and more recruits to the Power Five. According to Max Olson of ESPN, over the first 29 days of this year’s portal window, G5 to P5 transfers were numbering around 260, (an increase of 40% from last season) and by the time Ohio State throttled Notre Dame to win their national title, the number had risen all the way to 320. To compete in recruiting, Charlotte will have to find the right mix of transfer and development.

To compete in revenue-sharing, Charlotte certainly has some work to do. Of the available figures, Charlotte is currently last in annual revenue in the AAC, which means last in rev-sharing. As you can see from the chart above, Charlotte has some climbing to do.

The Stubbs Rub: Charlotte’s renovation is much needed but with everything else going on in the college athletics landscape, the timing couldn’t be worse. It’s not Charlotte’s fault the amateurism model is dying, but it certainly doesn’t make anything easier. Once the House v. NCAA payments are authorized on April 7th, (probably, anyway) the Group of Five will be responsible for 17% of $1.6 billion in back pay once this is approved, and each school in the G5 could lose nearly $400,000 annually, so the more money we can keep in the bank, the better.

As we wrap up, I just want to reiterate that these two situations are not the same. Charlotte’s City Council pushed through a crappy deal for the city’s taxpayers with shady justifications that will just end up lining the pockets of a billionaire who also happens to be unpopular. UNC Charlotte is a public university whose athletic department could possibly soon be giving a portion of their athletic revenue back to its student-athletes. I think the university has been realistic with what they want the new stadium to be; a place for more community events and an advantage for their athletic department, both directly and indirectly.

What have we learned? Two Things:

1. Consultants and PR firms will often inflate how much economic impact a stadium expansion can have on a community. Be wary of the figures these companies put out and remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it often is.

2. Charlotte’s expansion of Jerry Richardson Stadium should aid the university directly by allowing for more revenue opportunities like luxury seating and naming opportunities and indirectly as a recruiting tool for the university coaching staff.

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As always, Go Niners!