Tagged: Carolina Panthers

  Charlotte taxpayers will pick up nearly two-thirds of the $147 million tab to renovate and maintain Bank of America Stadium.

The Charlotte City Council voted unanimously Monday night to give the Panthers $87.5 million it will collect through a tax on prepared food over the next 10 years. 

In exchange for public money, the Panthers promise to stay in Charlotte for at least six years, with financial penalties that kick in if the team leaves within ten years. City staff call the deal a "tether" that will keep another city from poaching the team.  

The Panthers have agreed to scale back their stadium renovation plans in order to cut a deal with the city that would pump $87.5 million toward the project. In exchange, Charlotte would be guaranteed to keep the NFL team for at least six years.

Nationally, the Panthers aren'’t one of the NFL'’s most popular teams. In fact, try 4th least popular, according to an ESPN Sports Poll taken last year--not too surprising, considering the team is only heading into its 18th season of existence.

  A group of former Charlotte reporters from the 1970s are taking the city to court over its decision to negotiate behind closed doors for tax money to renovate Panthers' stadium. 

These same journalists and their lawyer sued the city for violating the state open meetings law in the early 1970's – and won. As a result, Superior Court Judge Frank Snepp placed the city under a permanent injunction against breaking the law.