Panthers Make Efforts to Shorten Security LinesCHARLOTTE, NC – “It was a real bummer! You know, we got there early, thought we'd planned good, and no idea about this new security policy at all,” says University City resident Eric Armstrong. Armstrong wasn’t the only one surprised by the long lines that greeted him Sunday. “It was just barely organized chaos, people everywhere, people walking around cutting everywhere,” he says.
Panthers officials say there were only around 5500 people in the stadium at noon. That left over 65,000 people to get through the new security in just over an hour.
“We apologize obviously to our fans. It is a league-mandated screening procedure that we're working through - it's new to our folks - it's new to our fans as well,” explains Director of Stadium Operations Scott Paul.
He says the Panthers will use cameras mounted outside the stadium to monitor all three gates for Thursday night's home game.
Stadium officials say about 44 percent of fans use the north entrance - this time they'll try to reroute some of those people to the east or south gates.
“And our fans for so long, have been used to being able to come to the stadium 15, 20 minutes before the game and getting in at kickoff,” Paul says.
He says fans need to plan on arriving at least 15 to 20 minutes earlier than usual.
“Yeah, I’m definitely planning ahead for the next home game then,” Armstrong says.
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