Carolina Panthers plan to build team HQ, practice facility in SC

[PanthersBigD]

I don't know that York has the infrastructure around it to support an NFL team wanting to bring a Super Bowl to town soon. I am happy that SC is getting more love from Tepper, but expect a facility similar to Dallas' going up in SC and being used as leverage for stadium upgrade costs at BOA. I mean, once he's got the practice facility in place, all he has to do is say he's thinking about moving and Charlotte leaders will lift their collective skirts. 

[trueblade]

2 hours ago, TheMaulClaw said:

Listen they've been pitching the two states one team theme very heavily lately.

And two states, one team has always been a part of the Panthers. As much as I detest the statue now, it has two Panthers, one representing each state. The flora on the north side of the stadium is all plants native to NC, but the flora on the south side of the stadium is all plants native to SC. 

It might be getting pushed more heavily now, but it's always been there. 

[Pimpdaddy]

...good luck trying to get any money outta SC...Cool...give me a break on Meck taxes that JR raped me on...

[kungfoodude]

3 hours ago, TheMaulClaw said:

Listen they've been pitching the two states one team theme very heavily lately. The team is looking at investing big in SC.  The original plan was to build a stadium on the state line before BOA.  There's more growth capability in Fort Mill.  The team can in essence design an entire city around the Panthers and it's much cheaper to do so with way better taxes.  South Carolina in the very least we'll be leveraged in negotiations with the Charlotte city council. There are plenty of things that NC has going for it over SC but not in this realm.  

South Carolinians love sports..and they travel very well.  The smaller Carolina supports the biggest football programs in both Carolinas. Clemson can be playing East Tennessee state and there's more people there then even a Panther's playoff game.  If South Carolinians get a chance at a true connection with an NFL team...they'll travel from all over the state every Sunday. Just like they do with Clemson and SCAR. Also I wouldn't underestimate the wealth in SC. There's a lot of money here...just not in the country. Remember a dude from Charleston almost bought the team. That also doesn't include Anita Zucker.  We're not all banjo players down here.  In fact there has been such an influx over the past 20 years into SC from other parts of the country that things are changing.  Even downtown Columbia is revamping itself.  They will cough up whatever they need too if it means the teams plays in SC. The Gov here is already hard at work forging a relationship with Tepper. SC's economy is booming.  I've lived in both states each for about 15 years non consecutively.  I've seen A LOT of poor NC'ers up there, and I've personally have always earned more in SC. I'm collectively from both states, but the North Carolinians that hold there noses up to SC when it comes to the Panthers need to realize we're one of the reasons there is even a team in Charlotte. Say what you wanted about JR and I'll agree with the bad stuff, but he brought the team there....and look where he's from.

They definitely 100% do not support professional sports. I have worked and lived in South Carolina extensively over the past 10 years and I have rarely ever found any public support for the Panthers. The only areas that I have seen it in to any real extent are the Charlotte suburbs(Fort Mill, Rock Hill, etc). Support for the Panthers is mediocre in North Carolina but it is ABYSMAL in South Carolina.

I can understand the tax benefits of building in the Charlotte suburbs area of SC, however. That is probably a smart move long term. I do think it will need some serious upgrades to the mass transit system so that people can travel down from Charlotte to see the games. The roads are already fuged heading that way. Game day traffic will be MISERABLE. 

[Jon4rd]

2 hours ago, trueblade said:

And two states, one team has always been a part of the Panthers. As much as I detest the statue now, it has two Panthers, one representing each state. The flora on the north side of the stadium is all plants native to NC, but the flora on the south side of the stadium is all plants native to SC. 

It might be getting pushed more heavily now, but it's always been there. 

I never knew about the plants thing. That's pretty cool

[Tbe]

9 hours ago, TheMaulClaw said:

Listen they've been pitching the two states one team theme very heavily lately. The team is looking at investing big in SC.  The original plan was to build a stadium on the state line before BOA.  There's more growth capability in Fort Mill.  The team can in essence design an entire city around the Panthers and it's much cheaper to do so with way better taxes.  South Carolina in the very least we'll be leveraged in negotiations with the Charlotte city council. There are plenty of things that NC has going for it over SC but not in this realm.  

South Carolinians love sports..and they travel very well.  The smaller Carolina supports the biggest football programs in both Carolinas. Clemson can be playing East Tennessee state and there's more people there then even a Panther's playoff game.  If South Carolinians get a chance at a true connection with an NFL team...they'll travel from all over the state every Sunday. Just like they do with Clemson and SCAR. Also I wouldn't underestimate the wealth in SC. There's a lot of money here...just not in the country. Remember a dude from Charleston almost bought the team. That also doesn't include Anita Zucker.  We're not all banjo players down here.  In fact there has been such an influx over the past 20 years into SC from other parts of the country that things are changing.  Even downtown Columbia is revamping itself.  They will cough up whatever they need too if it means the teams plays in SC. The Gov here is already hard at work forging a relationship with Tepper. SC's economy is booming.  I've lived in both states each for about 15 years non consecutively.  I've seen A LOT of poor NC'ers up there, and I've personally have always earned more in SC. I'm collectively from both states, but the North Carolinians that hold there noses up to SC when it comes to the Panthers need to realize we're one of the reasons there is even a team in Charlotte. Say what you wanted about JR and I'll agree with the bad stuff, but he brought the team there....and look where he's from.

Why is no one stating the obvious here? Tepper is building a practice facility and moving the HQ to SC there BECAUSE the stadium is staying in NC. Two states one team. His vision is not the SC panthers. It’s the Carolina Panthers. Each state gets an equal piece of the pie.

[4Corners]

10 hours ago, bull123 said:

More like Charlotte companies running down there as fast as they can

CLT City Council getting flat out abused...started a long time ago and nicki Haley accelerated it...SC wants business and will invest to get

Got any proof?

[gofightwin]

17 minutes ago, 4Corners said:

Got any proof?

Besides the companies leaving CLT for Fort Mill?  https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/article211648514.html

This company will actually be IN the center for the Panther training facility complex (if it is indeed the old Knights Stadium).  1100 jobs moved from CLT to Fort Mill because of tax incentives offered by SC and not NC.  

[Tbe]

11 hours ago, bull123 said:

More like Charlotte companies running down there as fast as they can

CLT City Council getting flat out abused...started a long time ago and nicki Haley accelerated it...SC wants business and will invest to get

I hear this a lot from SC residents, but the number of companies moving south is hardly outpacing the number of companies moving into CLT and the number of startups launching in CLT.

Remember, the state of SC has ONE Fortune 500 company headquartered there. NC has twelve. None of these Fortune 500 companies are moving.

[holderoftruth]

Why do these types of topics always turn into a dick measuring contest between NC vs SC, more specially, Charlotte vs Fort Mill? Anything that benefits Charlotte (i.e. Honeywell) will ultimately benefit Fort Mill. And vice versa. Plenty of people live in Fort Mill and commute/work in Charlotte every day. However, there’s also companies that are headquartered in SC, i.e. Red Ventures, which has a large majority of its workforce that lives in Charlotte. Charlotte and Fort Mill will be forever linked and the growth in one will generally result in the growth of its neighbor.

I want to make a couple points regarding the impact to the Panthers:

1.       This facility upgrade is long overdue. No more cancelling practice or relocating practice to a convention ballroom because of weather. I’m grateful we have an owner that has the vision to give our team comparable facilities and eliminate a competitive disadvantage we’ve had for multiple years. I foresee this facility eventually hosting the training camp, and if developed correctly, will be an amazing resource for the team.

2.       The relocation of headquarters is a bigger economic win for York county than it is an economic loss for Charlotte. The real item of concern for Charlotte is the stadium and the future playing site of the Panthers. I firmly believe Tepper has little desire to move the stadium from uptown. I think his vision includes landing a Super Bowl/MLS/other large events (Final Fours/large NCAA bowl games) to the area and a stadium in York county greatly diminishes the probability of this happening. That’s not a shot at Fort Mill, however, hotels/convention space/Knight’s relocation and the success (potential) of past/future events (DNC, RNC & NBA all-star) all lead me to the conclusion that Charlotte has the infrastructure to make this happen.  

3.       The more interesting/costly debate will be future negotiations regarding the stadium. It’s not uncommon for teams to have practice facilities located away from its stadium (Atlanta/Dallas/Minnesota/Pittsburg/Arizona). I think Tepper will use the headquarters move during negotiations, however, I think Plan A will be a new stadium in uptown Charlotte or at minimum, lots of upgrades to BOA, which will increase the chance of executing his vision listed in the second point above. There’s a couple of interesting spots around the current stadium to keep an eye on:

a.       Current stadium site

b.       Existing practice fields that no longer will be needed

c.       Duke Energy’s 526 South Church street building (Duke plans to sell the building to construct a new office tower)

d.       Mint Street Parking deck (Although a new office tower is planned on the gravel lot adjacent to the deck)

My preference would be a complete new dome stadium around the current site. The redevelopment of Stonewall street makes this a great location.  I think this is 5-10-year timeframe, however, this is the costliest option.

TLDR- What’s good for Charlotte is also good for Fort Mill and vice versa. The new facilities are long overdue for the Panthers and its exciting for the team. It sets up an interesting debate about the future stadium.

[!stUp]

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Convenience, location , value. The purrr-fect spot....

The "MacDoogal Dome" conveniently located off I-77.

[My Goodness My Guinness]

On 12/12/2018 at 3:23 PM, top dawg said:

As much as I'd like to make some off-handed joke about SC, this move by Tepper makes perfect business sense, as it will theoretically get South Carolinians (from the lawmakers to budding or potential fans) more engaged with the franchise.

It makes business sense because of the drastically lower taxes/general cost of putting the facility in SC instead of Charlotte, who has ridiculously high property taxes. 

[My Goodness My Guinness]

49 minutes ago, !stUp said:

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Convenience, location , value. The purrr-fect spot....

The "MacDoogal Dome" conveniently located off I-77.

Carowinds Boulevard: where Charlotte residents flock to grab cheap gas, fireworks, and liquor not regulated by the state. 

[Zaximus]

Too bad, was hoping we'd be changing the name to Charlotte Panthers.

But really, this makes sense, it would make sense even if the stadium moved, the parking situation is terrible uptown and it's only getting worse with all the new buildings.    I think it would be fantastic to have a huge parking lot to tailgate in for the games right outside the stadium.