The NFL Panthers are "required to provide five rent-free days a year" at Bank of America Stadium to the city of Charlotte, but three years into the deal, the city has "only used up seven days total," according to Katherine Peralta of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The city this year "might only use two -- for the college football kickoff game in September and the Belk Bowl in December." Charlotte can use the dates to "book non-NFL events during the offseason." The city has "tallied eight unused dates so far" and they will expire in '23 if they go unused. Officials said that there a "number of reasons the city hasn't used those rent-free dates: Stadium renovation work limits the window of available summer booking time, and it's tough to find profitable events even when rent is free." Concerns are an option to fill thsoe dates, but many performers "aren't taking their acts to big stadiums any more." Charlotte is "still looking for a soccer event this year," and the Panthers "haven't turned down any proposed ideas from the city yet." The five rent-free days are a "perk the city arranged as part of an agreement it made with the Panthers" in '13. In exchange for $87.5M to "help renovate the stadium, the team agreed to be 'tethered' to Charlotte for at least six years, with further penalties for leaving in years seven through 10." The Panthers themselves committed to put $37.5M "toward renovations, but have since exceeded that amount" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/19).
