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More speculation on new practice facilities

Mr. Scot

By Mr. Scot,
in Carolina Panthers

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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From Steve Harrison in The Observer...

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At his introductory news conference after buying the Panthers for $2.275 billion, new owner David Tepper mentioned a secondary "development" that a league insider said could be a new headquarters and practice center — and possibly a commercial real estate project surrounding it.

As NFL teams have squeezed as much revenue as they can from their stadiums, through suites and club seats, new suburban mixed-use developments may be the next frontier in making money. The idea is to create a football-focused destination that will attract fans year-round, not just on a handful of Sundays.

"It's a live-work-play development — with the Vikings as the anchor tenant," Vikings executive vice president Lester Bagley said while pointing to a drawing showing plans for a sprawling development surrounding the team's new headquarters.

The Carolina Panthers today have one address: Bank of America Stadium.

The team-owned stadium hosts games and serves as home for its owner and executives. It's where players lift weights and watch game video with coaches.

NFL insiders expect that will change.

"It's a trend in the league," said Marc Ganis of Chicago-based Sportscorp, which advises teams on stadiums. "Usually it's the team owner's expense to build them. That's why a for-profit commercial piece makes so much sense."

Through his spokesperson, Tepper declined to comment for this story.

 

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Tepper said at his news conference in May he wanted to have a presence in both Carolinas.

That could give the team the ability to see who is willing to offer a better package of incentives for a new headquarters and practice facility: the state of South Carolina and the city of Fort Mill or Rock Hill — or Charlotte and the state of North Carolina?

The General Assembly this week passed a law exempting the Panthers from paying property taxes on the land at Bank of America Stadium, which is privately owned on city-owned land. That will save the team $350,000 a year.

It's possible a new headquarters and practice facility could also be exempt if it were on city-owned land.

But surrounding retail and commercial development could provide a big boost to whichever city gets a potential practice complex. For instance, the 42-acre Charlotte Premium Outlets in southwest Charlotte pays $761,000 a year in city and county property taxes.

 

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Tepper is already familiar with state-of-the-art training facilities. The Pittsburgh Steelers, in which Tepper has had a 5 percent stake, share modern headquarters and practice facilities with the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. Tepper will sell his Steelers stake as he assumes control of the Panthers.

The City Council has not discussed the impact of Tepper buying the team. But some council members are thinking on their own about the Panthers' future and whether a new headquarters and practice facility would cement the team in Charlotte. Tepper and Mayor Vi Lyles have spoken on the phone once, but nothing substantive was discussed, Lyles said.

"We would be hopeful that if a practice facility emerged, that that would indicate they would be more likely to be here for the long haul," council member Ed Driggs said.

Kurt Badenhausen, an editor with Forbes, said teams have realized they can leverage their brand with real estate ventures. The New England Patriots did that with the commercial development Patriot Place next to their stadium, and other teams like the Cowboys and Vikings have followed.

"Developments like Patriot Place — it's the future," he said. "It's unshared revenue. It goes straight to the bottom line."

What I find equally of note here is that Bill Voth commented about the article on Twitter.

Voth has a habit of dropping coy hints about stuff like this.  His acknowledgement of the article makes me wonder. Joe Person has also seemed to indicate that he believes this is going to happen.

In my opinion, this would likely mean the end of training camp at Wofford, but the facility being located in say, Fort Mill or Rock Hill keeps the "presence" in both Carolinas that Tepper says he wants, while adding a revenue option without the team necessarily having to shell out for a new stadium in the near future.

This could be interesting to watch.

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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4 minutes ago, ImfromClayton said:

Makes too much sense not to happen.

This is something that really stuck out to me on “Hard Knocks” last year. 

Our facilities certainly aren’t bad, but this would be a major upgrade. 

It's kinda the same thing you get with stadiums and JerryWorld.

"Hey, our place isn't bad."

"Holy crap!  Did you see what they have?!"

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Johnny Rockets Rookie

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11 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

It's kinda the same thing you get with stadiums and JerryWorld.

"Hey, our place isn't bad."

"Holy crap!  Did you see what they have?!"

I was in Dallas a month or so ago for work and a group of us took a tour of the stadium. The tour guide and I went back and forth sh*t talking to each other the entire time. Tour was awesome and at the end I asked him where an ATM was so I could get some cash to tip him. On the walk to the ATM he told me he could stop putting on the show and be real. He was a Raiders fan. lol

With that being said, I hate the Cowboys but I can't hate that stadium. Jerry's World is all I have heard over the years and more. The behind the scenes stuff on the guided tour is a must do if you ever find yourself in the area. 

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shulasmyhero Newbie

shulasmyhero

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So Charlotte and the state of North Carolina foot the bill for millions of dollars in stadium renovations, eat the tax dollars for the stadium and will likely be squeezed for more in the near future for a new or heavily updated stadium but SC will benefit from a privately funded mixed use facility that will generate visitors and tax $ for the state that contributes virtually nothing to the financial health of the franchise? 

Sounds about right...

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philit99 Mentor

philit99

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8 minutes ago, shulasmyhero said:

So Charlotte and the state of North Carolina foot the bill for millions of dollars in stadium renovations, eat the tax dollars for the stadium and will likely be squeezed for more in the near future for a new or heavily updated stadium but SC will benefit from a privately funded mixed use facility that will generate visitors and tax $ for the state that contributes virtually nothing to the financial health of the franchise? 

Sounds about right...

Wonder how much money SC made off of NC residents buying lottery tickets and fireworks? Same thing right! LOL

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Pup McBarky Proficient

Pup McBarky

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3 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Fort Mill or Rock Hill keeps the "presence" in both Carolinas that Tepper says he wants

I, being from RH and working in FM, love this idea. But I also think the coaches and players love the idea of going away for camp - though I'm sure they would love the idea of being able to sleep in their own beds. That away-from-home and sleeping in bunks has a way of focusing them, I'm betting. They can move from Wofford, but I'd move to Furman or somewhere else far enough away to provide that true camp feeling.

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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4 minutes ago, Pup McBarky said:

I, being from RH and working in FM, love this idea. But I also think the coaches and players love the idea of going away for camp - though I'm sure they would love the idea of being able to sleep in their own beds. That away-from-home and sleeping in bunks has a way of focusing them, I'm betting. They can move from Wofford, but I'd move to Furman or somewhere else far enough away to provide that true camp feeling.

They could always go to camp at Winthrop :)

Even if they still were to have camp at Wofford or elsewhere though, all the regular in-season practices would be at the new facility.

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