Panthers’ Owner David Tepper And Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles To Make Major Announcement On December 17th
The Latest:
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper will be joined by Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and special guests for a major announcement on Tuesday, December 17th at 10am. The announcement will take place at the Mint Museum in Uptown.
Earlier this week, Charlotte city leaders laid out their plan to move forward with Major League Soccer in the Queen City. Read below for more details.
Original Story (Posted December 11, 2019):
CHARLOTTE, NC – Charlotte city leaders have laid out their plan to move forward with Major League Soccer in the Queen City. According to a newly released letter from Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles to the league, the city would put up $110 million dollars in hospitality funds to aid in Bank of America stadium renovations.
Lyles writes in the letter that she is “excited to welcome a franchise” in Charlotte. The plans also include a headquarters and practice facility at the old Eastland Mall site in East Charlotte.
“I think it would be a positive thing. I don’t see a lot of negative issues,” said Willie Higgins, an East Charlotte resident we spoke with last month.
Higgins and other say they’re hopeful something will be done to invigorate the area.
“The enthusiasm around here is very strong,” said Higgins, “everyone wants to see something done.”
Sources tell WCCB the city’s tentative plans and use of taxpayer money are not tied to an MLS announcement. The source says council members have not formally voted on a finalized agreement.
While council plans to hammer out details next week, David Tepper is moving forward with what his new team will be called.
He’s applied for a trademark for 8 possible names, including:
Charlotte FC
Charlotte Crown FC
Charlotte Fortune FC
Charlotte Monarchs FC
Charlotte Athletic FC
Charlotte Town FC
Carolina Gliders FC
All Carolina FC
“It’s mainly for merchandising, I would say more than anything else,” explained Brian Drozd, a Charlotte trademark attorney.
He says this signals that Tepper is confident the deal will get done.
“When they felt like it was probably going to happen, that’s when they said, okay lets figure out the name so that we can protect that name going forward.”
The official MLS announcement is expected on Tuesday. The city issued a permit for the same day to a company that does business with MLS. The permit requests parking production trucks on Levine avenue of the Arts for an event.
It’s unclear when city council will vote on the $110 million dollar incentives package.
