Source: Lance King / Getty
The city of Charlotte has grown at a massive rate over the last 25 years across the board including the sports landscape with multiple professional teams inhabiting the city. The future of the sports landscape in the Queen City can be tricky. One man who has had experience with negotiating with both the Panthers and Hornets is former Charlotte Mayor and Governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory who joined Kyle Bailey on Friday to discuss the potential future of how sports will look in the QC.
Pat first looked at the Hornets and the upcoming renovation project that will hit the Spectrum Center as he has a big issue with transportation which includes putting a bus terminal underground, and he also has really mixed opinions on the city not being able to participate in the increased value we are seeing with multiple NBA teams.
That led to Kyle asking about the 2017 NBA All-Star game being pulled due to the “Bathroom Bill” HB2 while going to Utah for the All-Star game this past year with similar restrictive laws in place for the LGTBQ+ community and why Adam Silver was singing a different tune this time around as Pat told Kyle that (Adam) Silver was singing a different tune back in 2016, but they were getting pressure from several of their sponsors who were getting pressure as well so they backed off. Pat thinks the turn happened in 2021 when the MLB All-Star Game moved from Atlanta to Denver despite similar laws involving the LGTBQ+ community in both states which resulted in major backlash towards Coca-Cola.
The Panthers future with Bank of America Stadium is also a question despite the fact the stadium is about to undergo multiple renovations, many people think Owner David Tepper wants to eventually build his own stadium as Pat noted that building a stadium now can be tricky as stadium lifespans are not long which includes less seating capacity as Pat noted that Panthers Founder Jerry Richardson told him he wished the capacity at BOA was 15,000 less than it was which makes him believe that you have to make stadium decisions not for today, but for 25 years down the line.
Lastly, Kyle asked Pat how and if the Federal Government can fix and regulate NIL as McCrory doesn’t think it can and will happen as it is more of a state issue and there is not even 1 clear remedy with Pandora’s box being open.
