OK, so the big economic announcement this week in Charlotte is a plan city leaders unveiled to use $650 million in public funds to renovate Bank of America Stadium. Under the plan, Panthers owner David Tepper would spend $150 million on the project. Tony Mecia of the Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter took a closer look and has compiled a list of the biggest stadium changes that are being proposed. He joins me now for our segment BizWorthy.
Marshall Terry: So what are some of the notable changes we might see and how does this play into the NFL stadium arms race between teams?
Tony Mecia: A lot of it is things like plumbing, electrical, replacing all the seats. One of the ones that's been getting a lot of attention is this idea of a social patio replacing some of the upper-level seats with, sort of, an area where you can walk around and get a drink. They're talking about doing a lot of the public spaces, redoing the video boards, escalators, restrooms. A lot of people have been asking about a roof. Is there going to be a retractable roof or a dome? The Panthers say no. A lot of these changes are really, sort of, ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ of NFL stadiums. There's been a lot of new NFL stadiums with a lot of features like this, but this is really cast as a way to, sort of, modernize it and make the stadium a little bit more amenable to events and a little more fan-friendly.
Terry: Tepper is one of the wealthiest owners in the NFL, with an estimated worth of about $20 billion. So why does this project need tax dollars? Why doesn't he just foot the whole bill?
Mecia: You know the city is casting this as, sort of, a steely-eyed business decision. They say there are a lot of community benefits that the city is getting. Really, I guess the answer is it's just, sort of, not the way that it's done nowadays, is to have these owners — even as wealthy as they are — fully foot the bill for stadiums. And, sort of, the underlying threat is they could leave. One provision of this deal, Marshall, is that it would keep the Panthers in Charlotte until at least 2039.
Terry: How likely is this plan to pass?
Mecia: I would say this plan is very likely to pass. This has really been in the works for months, if not years. Typically when the city staff recommend something to be approved, it gets approved.
Terry: Let's move now to an update on a story we've talked about before — financial troubles at the Aldersgate retirement community in Charlotte. The state Department of Insurance just released a report of its monthlong investigation into Aldersgate. What did it find?
Mecia: They've been taking a closer look at some of the finances. After all, Aldersgate was unable to repay residents and unable to pay contractors. This report looked at credit card spending, and the state found what it called extensive amounts of purchases — charges for things like Tiffany bracelets, travel to luxury resorts for conferences. They found employees using credit cards to charge drinks at a Plaza Midwood bar. The state says this in many cases was excessive travel and that there was excessive purchases of gift cards. Now Aldersgate came back and said, well, we have been making some changes on this to tighten up our policies. They said that, in some cases, these were related to improving employee morale during COVID as well as training that was needed. They've also noted there's a change of leadership at Aldersgate.
Terry: Finally, if you've been to Charlotte Douglas recently, you know how jammed with travelers it is. But Charlotte actually dropped a few spots on the latest ranking of the busiest airports in the world. So where does it rank now?
Mecia: As of 2023, Charlotte Douglas' passenger number suggests that it's 22nd in the world in terms of passenger traffic. That's down from number 19 in 2022. There are a lot more people traveling now than there were in the last few years, and the airport is expecting its busiest summer ever. However, a lot of other airports throughout the world are increasing their passenger counts even more. Charlotte was surpassed by airports in China, South Korea and Singapore. Domestically, we've moved up to number 9 from number 10. We leapfrogged Miami.
Terry: All right. Well, I guess, take that, Miami. Thanks, Tony.
Mecia: Thanks, Marshall.
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