Why should Mecklenburg County give millions to Marcus Smith for soccer? 2 great reasons

Marcus Smith, president of Speedway Motorsports Inc., says he applied Tuesday for a Major League Soccer franchise. The application was due by 5 p.m.

Mecklenburg County has agreed to help Smith build the stadium. The Charlotte City Council has not.

I’ve written about this before, but I like the idea of a team and new stadium on the cusp of Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood, and I like the idea of Smith owning it. Some readers complain that Charlotte’s schools can use the money much more than Smith can. That’s true.

But the hotel/motel taxes the city will invest can’t be used for schools or teachers. The money is earmarked for tourism, which is why hotels and motels agreed assess their guests with a surcharge.

We love to become properly indignant in situations such as these and often have a contest to see who can complain the loudest.

But where would Charlotte be without Bank of America Stadium, Spectrum Arena and BB&T BallPark? Our NFL, NBA and Class AAA baseball teams wouldn’t be here. We’d be a lesser city.

If we add the MLS, we’ll be stronger.

More from this issue of the Tom Talks newsletter:

This story was originally published February 1, 2017 at 9:45 AM.