Panthers officially pull plug on Rock Hill…
2 min read
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Panthers owner David Tepper will do what he wants.
Currently, he wants to walk away from the deal to build a new team headquarters and facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Tepper Sports & Entertainment issued a statement to that effect on Tuesday.
“On February 26, 2021, the City of Rock Hill became delinquent on their obligation to fund the public infrastructure,” the statement explains. “Despite our persistent efforts throughout 2021, the City of Rock Hill failed to issue the bonds or provide the funding for the public infrastructure for the project.”
The statement explains that a default notice was issued on March 18, 2022, and that Rock Hill did not cure the defect within the contractual 30-day period.
“It is unfortunate that some recently decided to conduct a misguided, destructive public relations campaign to obscure their failures,” the statement alleges, a reference to recent remarks from multiple public officials criticizing the team for its behavior.
For instance, South Carolina state senator Wes Climer has lashed out at Tepper. “If David Tepper’s behavior is indicative of how the NFL does business, then who wants to do business with the NFL? . . . The city, the county, the state and the Panthers worked together constructively for a considerable period of time at great effort to bring to Rock Hill a world-class sports entertainment center. David Tepper came to Rock Hill promising us Jerry Jones and ever since then he’s given us Dan Snyder.”
Despite the tough talk and Tepper’s aggressive acknowledgement of it, an olive branch has been extended. Of sorts.
“We have sent notices to the City to formally terminate the previous agreements,” the statement concludes. “Accordingly, we are prepared to sit down with the City and other interested parties to discuss the significant challenges ahead.”
That would be one very interesting sit down. Possibly, more interesting than most Panthers games played under Tepper’s ownership of the team.
