Charlotte FC set a goal for its first season to break MLS record set by Atlanta United
.JPG "The field of Bank of America Stadium transformed for soccer.")
Charlotte FC owner David Tepper is sticking with the line that he wants matchday to be a party during the club’s first season in Major League Soccer. He tried to make that a point by wearing a T-shirt with the words “Let’s Party” written above the Charlotte FC crest during a virtual presentation for media members Wednesday over Zoom.
What that party translates to is hosting the largest MLS match ever in the club’s inaugural season in the league in 2022 after its original start date was delayed a year for the pandemic. Charlotte FC president Nick Kelly said a goal for the club is to host at least 74,000 fans at a single match in its first year and to consistently fill the lower bowl of Bank of America Stadium, which means averaging around 30,000 fans at home matches.
“Anything less than this would not be a successful first year in our eyes,” Kelly said.
Bank of America Stadium, which is also home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, is undergoing soccer-specific renovations and is in the process of transitioning from grass to an artificial turf surface, which are modifications leadership said would be ready in time for Charlotte FC’s games next year.
Nearby Atlanta United, which was declared an early rival by team leadership when Charlotte was announced as the league’s 30th franchise, hosted a record-setting 73,019 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2018 when Atlanta beat Portland for the MLS Cup title. Charlotte FC said it intends to top that attendance at the roughly 75,000-seat stadium in uptown Charlotte.
“That’s a challenge to our fans,” Kelly said. “That’s a challenge to the market to come out in March of 2022 to make sure that we show everybody how Carolina represents soccer.”
Tepper Sports & Entertainment president Tom Glick declined to provide a number of season ticket sales and deposits on Wednesday. The latest figure provided was 10,000 season-ticket deposits for 31,000 seats in December, which was before the club rolled out its season ticket prices in February that turned some fans off from purchasing tickets given the high cost compared to other MLS clubs.
Kelly noted Wednesday that there will be “affordable options” for single-game tickets to be announced.
Charlotte FC hosted in-person seat selection events for deposit holders prior to construction at the stadium and will resume similar events closer to kickoff, the team said. Glick said that the club could share a number on ticket sales in the next few weeks and that “things are going incredibly well,” adding that he still expects Charlotte FC to be “one of the very big attendance clubs.”
The team knows that will require filling some gaps before 2022, including naming a head coach and filling out its roster that currently stands at four players. Sporting director Zoran Krneta told Kelly during the recorded presentation that the team’s scouting department is “close” on signing a couple of deals regarding adding players to the team’s four-man roster and that Charlotte FC expected to announce its head coach in the next four to five weeks.
“We really wanted someone who fits every single box and checks every single box for us, and we believed we identified the best couple of candidates,” Krneta said of the coaching hire.
Krneta said that club leadership started the scouting and interviewing process last year, and has culled the list down to a much smaller number of candidates.
“We’re very excited,” he said. “It’s going to be someone who brings success for this team in 2022. It will be someone who shares our values, our vision, how this team will play. How this team will conduct (itself) on and off the pitch.”
Krneta was not made available to media members, nor was Tepper. Both made appearances in the nearly hour-long presentation narrated by Kelly on the club’s upcoming timeline and goals.
With the head coaching position filled this summer, Charlotte FC would be able to turn its attention to rounding out a roster that so far includes four names: Spanish midfielder Sergio Ruiz, Australian attacking midfielder Riley McGree, Polish defender Jan Sobociński and midfielder Brandt Bronico, who joined Charlotte through a trade deal with Chicago Fire FC.
Those players are competing with teams on loan until 2022, with Bronico being the closest to Charlotte’s home base playing for the Charlotte Independence in the USL Championship.
Charlotte FC will also look to add more players during the 2022 MLS SuperDraft in the winter with its first pick as an expansion team. From there, the club has ambitious goals outlined for its inaugural season, which include making the MLS Cup playoffs and hosting a playoff match.
Other upcoming items Kelly mentioned in the timeline included unveiling home kits, or uniforms, in November and community marketing and outreach events around the city, including a photo booth with Charlotte FC’s logos at this weekend’s NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“These are big Year 1 goals,” Kelly said. “That’s a big Game 1 goal, but we believe that the power of the market will put us in a position to be this successful.”
