With the Charlotte city council set to vote on the proposed $650 million Carolina Panthers stadium renovation deal today, and likely to approve it overwhelmingly, Joe Bruno of WSOC-TV in Charlotte took a look at the meeting agenda, and hold onto your hats, we’re down a rabbit hole:
The city is eyeing 2046 for a new stadium for the Panthers and Charlotte FC…
According to the agenda, the city will start negotiating with Tepper Sports & Entertainment by April 1, 2037.
So what does that mean, exactly? Over to the Charlotte Observer:
The new stadium would be located in Charlotte and potentially be ready for the 2046 season, according to terms of the agreement set to be voted on Monday by the City Council. Terms say the negotiations would be about design and construction of the stadium and the “need for potentially new funding sources.”
So would this be a contractual guarantee of a new stadium, or just a promise to talk more about one in 12 years, or what? Agenda, you have anything more for us?
New Stadium: On or before April 1, 2037, the City of Charlotte and TSE will commence good faith negotiations regarding the design and construction of a new stadium to be located in the City of Charlotte that would be completed in time for the 2046 season. In furtherance of such good faith negotiations, the parties understand the need for potentially new funding sources. The parties will negotiate the use of hospitality funds for the purposes of studies and analysis regarding a new stadium.
Okay, now we’re getting a least a little somewhere. One of the terms of the Panthers stadium renovation deal is that in 13 years, the city of Charlotte and Panthers owner David Tepper will start negotiating in good faith on a new stadium to replace the one being renovated now. How much it would cost, who would pay for it, and any other details are all wrapped up in that term “good faith,” which promises to make an interesting enforceability challenge if Tepper ever decides to go to court to force a future Charlotte administration to deliver on this promise of a new stadium. The use of future “hospitality funds” — hotel and restaurant taxes — is, we should note, only specifically committed for “studies and analysis” of a new stadium, not actually building it, so who pays how much for one is entirely up in the air.
Once everyone started freaking the hell out, a city spokesperson tried to walk the whole thing back:
I would dispute “common” given that I’ve never seen a clause like this in another stadium/arena renovation agreement, but it’s certainly possible I’ve missed a couple.
In any case, while I’ll defer to lawyers on what this clause actually means in terms of a contractual promise, it’s likely more important in terms of priming the pump for Tepper’s next ask: He’s officially putting local residents on notice that once he gets this $650 million, the clock is ticking until his next demand for public cash. It’s a slightly risky gambit, since “fix my old stadium for me, then once that’s done I’ll ask you for a new one” is not the best sales pitch; if he already has the council vote in the bag, though, then if Tepper really does intend on coming back with his hand out again in a little over a decade, he can at least say he did warn everyone.