Sunday’s Super Bowl in Minneapolis will serve as a visible reminder of what Charlotte and the next Carolina Panthers owner won’t have – a gleaming domed stadium capable of hosting Super Bowls and Final Fours.
Drawing major sporting events to Charlotte would be one way for Jerry Richardson’s successor to pitch a new stadium – a ploy one industry expert refers to as “stadium extortion.”
But there are other ways the Panthers’ new owner could try to leverage taxpayers and public officials – including threatening to move to a new city, threatening to move to a new site in Charlotte, or requesting major upgrades to the current facility by calling it inadequate.