An online petition has been launched asking the Charlotte City Council to reject a request for $650 million in public money toward renovations of Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers and MLS's Charlotte FC.
As reported by Charlotte CBS affiliate WBTV, petition creator Grace Fendrick said Monday that if the city decides to pay $650 million toward the estimated $800 million total cost of the stadium upgrades — which include new seats, a new restroom, and a pavilion area — she believes it would be a misuse of public dollars.
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”The idea that this billionaire wants us taxpayers to be paying for these outlandish things in the stadium is ridiculous,” shared Fendrick, as reported by WBTV's Erica Lansford.
As of this writing, the petition had garnered fewer than 60 signatures.
In it, Fendrick argues that the stadium, owned by Tepper Sports and Entertainment, a company run by billionaire financier David Tepper, is seeking public funding to renovate his privately owned stadium. Tepper representatives have been touting the project's potential impact on economic growth, but J. C Bradbury, a professor of economics at Kennesaw State University, agreed with Fendrick that such claims are specious.
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“Economists have been studying the economic impact of stadiums for decades, and they consistently find they have limited to no economic impact on the community," Bradbury said, as reported by WBTV. "And it’s hard for people to understand because they see people going to games and spending dollars buying concessions; how can you say there’s no economic benefit? The reality is that people who attend are local residents, so if they weren’t spending money at the stadium, they’d be spending it elsewhere, so there’s no new stimulated economic growth."
“Where is Tepper Sports and Entertainment gonna go if the city of Charlotte does not give them the money?” Fendrick questioned, while speaking to WBTV.
“We have a very large sports market. Is Tepper really gonna invest probably more than we would give him for the stadium to relocate? Not just one team but two teams. Where are they gonna go? We need to call Tepper Sports & Entertainment bluff and tell him, 'No, we’re not gonna pay for the stadium,’ and he has more than enough money to do so himself."
Fendrick told WBTV that she signed up to speak at Monday night’s city council meeting but was contacted by a city clerk who told her there would be no public comment since the stadium renovation funding measure had already passed in the budgetary meeting
