By Ray Alley
After struggling for several years to get a foothold in Major League Soccer’s pecking order for an expansion team, Charlotte has apparently shot to the front of the line.
Several potential owners/investor groups floated proposals, all requesting financial support from City and Mecklenburg County coffers. Included was the issue of a new MLS stadium and the question of who will pay for it.
This time, soccer has the backing of a billionaire, who already owns a National Football Team that plays in an NFL stadium that will more than meet the needs of a professional soccer club.
David Tepper wants a MLS team to go along with his Carolina Panthers. He has seen how well properties from the NFL and MLS have married well in Atlanta.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a board of governors meeting recently that the league was in the final stages of awarding Charlotte the leagues 30th franchise. “We’ve got great confidence that it’ll be a great city,” Garber said at that time. “When David came in, there was a great level of support for his presentation, and for everything he hopes to achieve there. “I think our board really appreciated all the detail they provided,” Garber added, regarding Tepper’s proposal. Tepper, a 62-year old billionaire hedge-fund manager from Pittsburg, PA, purchased the Panthers for $2.2 billion in the spring of 2018. The MLS entry franchise fee cost is expected to exceed $300 million.
One holdup, and perhaps the only holdup, was the stadium, which was opened in 1996 It is one of the oldest in the NFL and needs about $100 million in taxpayer revenue to pay for changes to the stadium. Tepper has already raised the issue of upgrades to the stadium for football, long before MLS became an issue. Adding a second professional team in the facility likely bolsters Tepper’s case for getting that work done.
Bank America Stadium seats 75,000-plus for football. The issue is how to disguise about 50,000 seats in the upper reaches of the stadium so they won’t show the glass being more empty than full. Several months ago the Charlotte Observer speculated that Tepper might ask Charlotte for as much as $250 million. At that time one city councilman said the city might consider $100 million. So who will pick up that ticket? The City with help from the County? Not likely to be Tepper, though he might accept a minor commitment to help with the changes.
What might come from the county is likely to be small, if not at all. The county is contributing $5.5 million to rebuild 23,000-seat Memorial Stadium, which is located southeast of downtown Charlotte. That 1940s facility was part of one of the earlier MLS proposals by the owner of the USL Championship Charlotte Independence. Memorial Stadium construction is expected to be ready for the 2021 season opener.
“We’ve got to get the stadium right,” Garber told the group. He added, “We’ve got confidence in David Tepper and his management group and confidence in the city leaders that they’ll continue to want to support the efforts to bring Major League Soccer to Charlotte.”
So it seems to come down to (drum roll) money. Who pays and who benefits. If it was poker, one would wonder who might have the winning hand once the hole card is shown.
When the issue of a practice facility for the Panthers came up, Tepper leveraged a no-tax opportunity in South Caroline, and built there, also moving team headquarters South of the Border in Fort Mill.
Tepper even flirted with the idea of a new stadium being build down there.
Garber has indicated he would like to resolve the 30th and final (for now) franchise location before the end of this year. It will be an interesting three weeks until Christmas!