Jerry Richardson

Most of the Charlotte City Council's debate and deliberations about spending tax dollars on a renovation of Panthers' Stadium happened behind closed doors. That's pretty common when a city is hashing out economic incentives.  But this case stands out because the Panthers were given unprecedented access to the council's process.

As Charlotte City Council debated in February whether to give the Carolina Panthers money for stadium renovations, the city attorney believed the team might be sold and moved if members turned the team down.

Transcripts of closed meetings released Tuesday also show the city and team tangled over the Panthers’ tax burden, the length of a contractual agreement to keep the Panthers in Charlotte, and even over a proposal that the city build the team a parking deck.

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.

The Charlotte City Council has given up the fight for permission to raise the local restaurant tax as a way to raise money for Panthers' Stadium upgrades.

Councilman James Mitchell says the measure passed by the state house Wednesday is "the best the city will get." It only gives the city flexibility to use existing restaurant tax revenues for the football stadium.

The Carolina Panthers, who are seeking more than $200 million in public funds for stadium renovations, said Thursday the team made $66.5 million during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, after an audit of the team was published by the website Deadspin.

The Carolina Panthers new general manager says if he does his job right, the team will win a Super Bowl. Those were among Dave Gettleman’s comments at his introductory press conference Tuesday at the Panther’s stadium. 

Panthers’ owner Jerry Richardson laid it out simply for his newest hire:

"One of the things a general manager has to do, is he has to be able to fix things," Richardson said.

Dave Gettleman has a lot to fix. He’s taking over a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in four years and hasn’t won a playoff game since 2006.