Bad weather ahead of Charlotte FC, Panthers games means new look for Bank of America Stadium
The threat of a rain-soaked weekend will have Bank of America Stadium looking a bit different on Saturday.
Markings for both the Charlotte FC soccer pitch and the Carolina Panthers football field have been painted to the stadium’s turf ahead of Charlotte’s sports-packed weekend, Tepper Sports and Entertainment announced Friday. TSE did this to ensure that the lines needed to play both games will be in place prior to the weekend’s looming storms.
That means that the city’s MLS players — for the first time in team history — will be bounding across hashmarks and end-zone lines on Saturday, when Charlotte FC hosts New York City FC.
“This is not ideal but is unavoidable given the weather forecast,” a TSE spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Charlotte Observer. “We never want our soccer field to have football lines, but we are thankful that we will be able to play both games this weekend.”
There’s an 80% chance of rain Saturday evening and into Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Here’s what the field will look like on Saturday:
- The MLS lines will be in yellow.
- The NFL lines, hash marks and sidelines will be in white.
- Following the Charlotte FC match, barring lightning storms, the yellow MLS lines will be removed.
- TSE is still considering options for painting the end zones and middle of the field for the Panthers game and will make a final determination based on weather after the CLTFC match on Saturday.
To be clear, this is a weather issue. Not a timing one.
Two weekends ago, the Panthers played their only preseason home game on a Friday night — just a day before Charlotte FC played Toronto at home. In that instance, the football-to-soccer conversion began at 11 p.m. on Friday (after the Panthers game ended) and continued through 7 a.m., with about 20 people and the FieldTurf verson of a Zamboni working to make it happen.
That process was expected to work in reverse this weekend — soccer-to-football instead of football-to-soccer — but inclement weather forecasts prompted TSE to put the field lines on for both teams earlier this week just in case. (Rain on Saturday night, after all, might wash away any football paint not applied and thoroughly dried beforehand.)
“Charlotte FC games are scheduled on Saturday because they are more convenient for our fans, and we’ve shown we can transition the field for multiple events in a short period of time,” the spokesperson’s statement continued. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the weather will cooperate this weekend. In particular, we are grateful for our grounds crew who will literally be working around-the-clock to deliver both of these games to our fans. These are the occasional challenges that come with hosting an increased number of events at Bank of America Stadium.”
To get this done, TSE has added eight supplemental groundskeepers and purchased the necessary tarps and other materials. The organization also consulted other organizations that have had to similarly transform their facilities on short notice with bad weather looming — like New England (New England Revolution and New England Patriots) and Seattle (Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Seahawks).
Bank of America Stadium is on track to host 39 events at the stadium in 2022.
There’s a chance the Carolina Panthers play on different field
There is a possibility that the Panthers will play on a field that looks different than normal, too.
Per the stadium’s field transition itinerary, the grounds crew will remove the MLS yellow lines from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (after the CLTFC match). Then, if the rain holds out, the crew will work from 5:30 p.m. to 11:30 a.m. the next day (Sunday) to fill out the rest of the football field with the rest of the field’s color — Panthers logo, end zone paint, etc.
Charlotte weather forecasts from National Weather Service
- Friday night: A 40% chance of showers, mainly after 2 a.m.
- Saturday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 11 a.m., then showers between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Rain alone won’t stop the CLTFC match from being played, but lightning will.
- Saturday night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 70. East southeast wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
- Sunday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 82. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Editor’s note: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated when Saturday’s kickoff was scheduled for. That issue has been rectified.
This story was originally published September 9, 2022 at 12:00 PM.
