Charlotte receives five rent-free days to host events like the annual Belk Bowl every DecemberGETTY IMAGES
Charlotte city leaders have been "exploring a range of entertainment options" to be held at Bank of America Stadium, from a "battle of the bands to a professional Spanish soccer match, to fill the rent-free days at the stadium," according to Katherine Peralta of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Each year, Charlotte receives "five rent-free days as a perk from the deal it made" with the Panthers in '13 to provide $87.5M in "public funds to help renovate the stadium." However, in previous years, Charlotte has "not used all of the available rent-free days, which provide a savings of $250,000 per event to the city." Charlotte has "contended that the stadium's off-season renovations, which wrapped up last year, have made scheduling extra events difficult." So far, the city has "only three rent-free days booked" at the stadium for '19: a CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer match in July, the Belk College Kickoff (North Carolina against South Carolina) on Aug. 31 and the Belk Bowl in December. Assuming no other days are booked by the end of the year, Charlotte "will have accumulated 15 unused rent-free days at the stadium," worth $3.75M in rent, since the "start of the renovations-funding deal with the team." Former Deputy City Manager Ron Kimble said that it is "unclear if the rent-free days expire if they go unused" by '23, or if they "roll over for multiple years." Panthers Owner David Tepper has said multiple times that he "wants to bring more events to the stadium." Since the venue opened in '96, it has "hosted just two concerts" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/24).
