CRVA Eyes Knights Stadium For Amateur Sports

When Charlotte's top tourism official considers a plan for a new Charlotte Knights stadium Uptown, he doesn't think professional baseball. He thinks amateur sports. Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority CEO Tom Murray says his agency has agreed to cover some traffic management costs for the Knights in exchange for 12 days a year the CRVA can host amateur sports tournaments and other events at the stadium. "One of the most significant things we do as an organization is help drive amateur sports," says Murray. "One of the things that we know about the hotels is they have strong demand during the week and what they really are looking for us as an organization to do is help fill them during the weekends." Amateur sports competitions tend to draw entire families to Charlotte from out of town when the city's corporate travelers head home for the weekend. Murray says too often the CRVA loses the chance to host those tournaments because Charlotte doesn't have the right venue. A new baseball stadium Uptown would help. So would an ambitious plan the city council is considering to renovate Bojangles Coliseum and build a 12-court facility nearby geared toward amateur sports. The $60 million project is part of a $1 billion capital improvement plan that would require a 4-cent increase in city property tax.