CHARLOTTE, N.C. – David Tepper, the new owner of the Carolina Panthers, said the logical place for the Carolina Panthers is Charlotte, but he seemed to leave the door open a crack as he prepares to take over the helm of the team.
Tepper told reporters he had no idea yet about Bank of America Stadium and if he would want to keep the arena as is or make improvements.
City officials said they welcomed Tepper as the new team owner, but some were wary of what he might want to ask for down the road.
“I don’t want to make any assumptions before it happens but when that “ask” comes we’ve got a lot of priorities and we are going to need to figure out how that fits in there and what is the role of government and taxpayers in funding stadiums," city council member Tariq Bokhari said.
Some city and county officials seemed to imply Tepper, with his estimated wealth of $11 billion, could fund any improvements himself.
“I’m so glad we have an owner who apparently has enough resources to pay for the team himself, and so I suspect that he’ll show that same thing when it comes to improving stadiums and all the other things necessary,” said Commissioner Trevor Fuller.
While he seemed to favor Charlotte, Tepper said everyone needed to remember that the name of the team is the Carolina Panthers.
“That means the team has to have some sort of presence in the Carolinas,” said Tepper, adding the last time he checked, “There’s two of them.”
Last January, NBC Charlotte first reported Felix Sabates and a group of local investors interested in the Panthers were looking at land off Carowinds Boulevard at the state line as a possible location for a new stadium and acres of parking.
Sabates later dropped out of the bidding.
Tepper seemed to make only one promise about the future team location.
“It’s going to be the Carolina Panthers,” he said.