The Carolina Panthers want $800 million from taxpayers, seem to be using the playbook from their last failed deal

In late 2018, David Tepper bought the Carolina Panthers. His first big project was to build a brand new team headquarters and training camp in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The $800 million deal was announced in 2019 and gave the team an absurd amount of tax credits and property tax savings. As ESPN put it, South Carolina leaders “cheered the investment, offering incentives and relishing getting a piece of the NFL team”. After construction of the project started, it wasn’t that long before Rock Hill and Tepper began arguing over funding issues. Following that, Tepper’s company stopped working on the project and abandoned the entire thing.

This week, Tepper is again asking a group of leaders and taxpayers to give him $650 million dollars to upgrade the current NFL stadium. But as I started reading articles about the recent demands by the Panthers, I started to see some of the same language used by the team when they were trying to get the Rock Hill disaster put together.

Let’s just look at some promises given then and now:

• For both projects, the Panthers want everyone to be proud of them:
  • Before the Rock Hill Project began, the Panthers COO told Rock Hill media that when they began to see images of the proposed buildings for the project, they were “going to be proud”.
  • Recently, the Panthers Head Coach “expressed his excitement about the new stadium renderings” and how these upgrades would allow the coaches to put a team “that the Carolinas can be proud of”.

• For both projects, the Panthers would bring a record amount of economic impact to the areas being worked on:
  • In Rock Hill, the public was told that the Panthers facilities would have a “monster economic impact” that would “create 5,715 new jobs” and total close to $4 billion dollars. Reminder: It never would have done any of this.
  • Over the last few weeks, the Panthers have done many interviews and claimed that these upgrades will drive “billions in economic impact” to Charlotte.

• For both projects, the new buildings will create world-class entertainment zones:
  • In Rock Hill, the Panthers COO told local leaders that by building these facilities, they would also be creating a “transformational project” that would also be an “entertainment venue destination and more”
    
  • More recently, the Panthers President has spoken about how these upgrades to the stadium would somehow “deliver world-class sports and entertainment to Charlotte and the region for years to come”

• Both projects were not going to cost taxpayers a dime:
  • Years ago, both the Panthers and the mayor of Rock Hill declared the same thing: This project will NOT INCREASE YOUR TAXES.
  • This week, the team clearly laid out how local taxpayers will see NO NEW or INCREASED TAXES.

• Both projects will cause development around them to explode:
  • Rock Hill leaders claimed that this project would become a “destination for visitors” due to the addition of “hotels, restaurants and other attractions that could be built near the new headquarters”.
  • According to the Panthers, they knew “from the very beginning” that stadium upgrades would be the “great start of a massive development” that will include “restaurants, retail, a healthcare facility, apartments, hotels, trails, and office space”.

• Both projects will see the local infrastructure flourish:
  • The Rock Hill project promised to make “significant improvements to local infrastructure”, including fixes to the local interstate highway.
  • The Panthers claim that this new project will “modernize infrastructure”. The Panthers have asked Charlotte taxpayers several times over the years to give them money for infrastructure upgrades or fixes.

• Both projects will create all sorts of new elements:
  • When the Rock Hill project was finished, it was expected to include the following amenities:
    • A 5,000-square-foot outdoor multipurpose stadium
    • An indoor 500-seat practice facility
    • A public plaza for events
    • An outdoor-landscaped open space
    • A team headquarters put inside a 700,000-square-foot facility
    • Outdoor practice fields
    • A sports medicine facility
    • Corporate offices/Residential space/Retail space
    • New public streets, sidewalks, and trails for walkers and cyclists.
  • If the proposed project goes through, the Panthers claim to offer the following amenities:
    • A new state-of-the-art sound system, scoreboard, and video boards
    • Modernizing the mechanical, plumbing, electrical and HVAC.
    • Brand-new seats installed throughout the bowl
    • Improved accessibility throughout the facility
    • Stadium safety and security enhancements, including improved lighting
    • A new community gathering spot and outdoor classroom on game days and non-event days.
    • Upgraded restrooms throughout the stadium
    • Enhancements to the stadium exterior
    • Helping the team lower its impact on the environment?

If I were a Charlotte taxpayer, I would keep in mind just how wrong the Panthers were in their financial documents used to justify the Rock Hill project. The John Locke Foundation wrote a great story that discussed what happened in 2019 when one South Carolina official wanted an actual independent economist to look at the Panthers numbers. This state leader refused to let the Panthers deal come up for a vote until he got the results from his independent economist. When the results came back, he found out that the Panthers were over-stating the team’s economic impact by “nearly $2.7 billion”. How did this happen? Well, the team’s report assumed that “all 150 Panthers players, coaches, staff and owners (would) move to South Carolina”. Something that nobody in their right mind thought would actually happen.