Panthers want 125 Million in taxpayer money.

[Kevin Greene]

Super Bowl in 2003

Well hell, that's worth 125 mill in taxes on food.

[Panthers_Lover]

Or we could give 125 local schools a million dollars each to improve their facilities and pay raises for teachers.

Nah.

I know you're smarter than that. I know you know that a professional sports team, especially an NFL team, has a huge economic impact on a community.

[Panthers_Lover]

Call them the Charlotte Panthers and it's a done deal.

125 million = 1 mile of light rail construction

Then give me back my PSL dollars and my season ticket dollars.

[fieryprophet]

Yeah because no one would give him a low % loan. He would totally be required to liquidate assets. With all the revenue sharing the cost should be split between the NFL and Richardson.

you know less about business than you do football.

Assume the Panthers obtained a ten year loan at 0%. That's 12.5 million per year, out of a total net income of at best $15 million, and in most years it's much less than that. You really think it's the best financial decision to obtain a loan that would require almost all of your profits for the next ten years? It'd be better to skip any upgrades entirely.

"BUT DEY MAKES MUR MONIES DEN DAT!!?!?!"

No, actually, they don't. Here's a look at the Packers financials, one of the most wildly successful teams in the NFL, and yet they had a net income last year of $9.8 million.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/sports/football/28packers.html?_r=0

And that's for a team that is publicly financed in every way.

Oh, and my business acumen is just fine, thank you.

[pstall]

Wouldn't more seats bring more rev? Think party peoples think.

[fieryprophet]

I don't understand how people can scream about $125 million for stadium upgrades but would scream even more if we didn't give Cam a contract valued that much in about two years. There's a reason that NFL teams take in a lot of revenue but also have huge expenses.

[Doc Holiday]

How about this, you get the money once the team makes the playoffs. That should be a nice carat.

the team pays upwards of $40+ million a year in taxes just based on the amount they pay in salaries every year, not counting taxes paid or extra revenue generated from home games.

This should be a shoe in for them to get this.

[fieryprophet]

Wouldn't more seats bring more rev? Think party peoples think.

Why? The stadium's not overcrowded. Adding more seats just increases the likelihood of blackouts.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

The city of Charlotte made the mistake of not retaining the Hornets and the economy suffered for it. There is no way they let something like that happen again.

[NanceUSMC]

Let's not pretend the city of Charlotte makes nothing off of the Panthers...

This is not a one way relationship...

[Hotsauce]

Or we can all eat fried chicken from Bojangles Monday-Friday

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Or we can all eat fried chicken from Bojangles Monday-Friday

I already do that... Protector of the Cajun biscuit.

[Niner National]

What about older fans?? My father has issues with his hip and knees and often bitches his way up those long winding ramps. Probably easier for someone who just walks down to the field with his camera.

It's 8 games per year.

If your father gets to the point where he can't walk up the stairs, that's unfortunate for him, but other fans and taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for that.

I feel like escalators would be kind of dangerous anyway. You are supposed to walk onto an escalator from its origin. If you enter from the side you are not transferring momentum in the same direction the escalator is moving. I anticipate a lot of people will fall, especially with all the drunks at a game.

[Guest]

Jesus Christ why isn't this crap in the Tinderbox?