Planning on Carolinas Stadium began in the early 1990s after the Carolinas were given a new NFL expansion team that would later become the Panthers. Several sites were proposed for the stadium including near Charlotte Motor Speedway, near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s campus, as well as near the Carowins theme park with the 50 yard line being on the state border of North and South Carolina to signal the unity of the two states around the franchise. In the end planners landed on the Charlotte center city site where the stadium now stands. With the Panthers temporarily playing at Clemson University during construction, ground was broken on April 22, 1994 with opening day in August 1996. Construction costs were a relatively modest $248 million dollars for what was considered the most advanced stadium in the NFL at the time. The design was based on classic stadiums like LA Memorial Coliseum and Soldier Field. Naming rights were sold to LM Ericsson on a 10 year $25 million dollar contract. When that deal expired in 2004 Bank of America purchased the naming rights for 20 years.
The stadium was a pioneer for the use of Person Seat Licenses for an NFL stadium. A PSL gives individuals the right to buy season tickets for a certain seat in a stadium. These licenses were used to help fund the stadium. Many future NFL stadiums would use this strategy in later years.
For the mid-1990s the stadium was considered state of the art, with unprecedented amounts of technology and an overall great fan reception. By the 2010s the stadium was starting to show its age, so renovations began to upgrade video boards, install ribbon boards throughout the stadium, as well as installing surround sound and renovating the home locker room. Additional renovations between 2015-2017 upgrading the fan experience in concourses with upgraded concessions, double the amount of wifi access points, and the the addition of a 13 foot tall statue of controversial team owner Jerry Richardson. The statue of Richardson was later removed in 2020. Further renovations took place in 2019-2020 with updated logos and advertising around the scoreboard, and the removal of 1000 seats in the west end zone so new bunker suites could be installed at field level. These bunker suites are similar to those that were installed at the Superdome. Further renovations took place when the MLS awarded a franchise to Charlotte. The soccer specific renovations included adding new locker rooms, camera mounts, a new tunnel entrance, concourse upgrades, and the replacement of the natural grass playing surface with FieldTurf.
Early on the stadium had a very positive reputation with other NFL franchises like the Seahawks studying the stadium as inspiration for their facilities. As time as passed the upgrades have not kept pace with what is now expected by fans. In 2019 team owner David Tepper started expressing interest in demolishing Bank of America Stadium and replacing it with a new retractable roof stadium in another part of town. He noted in particular that maintenance costs at the aging facility continued to rise. By 2022 Tepper noted that major renovations were under consideration, but nothing had been finalized yet. Only time will tell if the stadium is renovated or replaced. Based on current trends, I could see the Panthers leaning for an entirely new stadium.
7 авг 2022
