West Charlotte football’s playoff game starts at 6, will restrict fans. Here’s why

There are five playoff football games featuring Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools scheduled for Friday, but one of them is not like the others.

Four games will start at 7 p.m. with no apparent attendance restrictions. But Friday’s Providence at West Charlotte game will start at 6 p.m., an hour earlier than usual, and no fans under 21 will be allowed entry unless accompanied by a person who is 21 or over.

The Charlotte Observer reached out to CMS on Wednesday, asking why the game time had been moved. On Thursday morning, the district replied saying it would look into the matter. Providence High posted about the age restriction on its social media pages Thursday.

CMS has not responded further.

This is the third time in five Friday nights that CMS game restrictions have affected home football games at West Charlotte, the reigning N.C. 3A state champion.

Fewer than 1,500 tickets were allowed for home games with Independence on Oct. 3, and with North Mecklenburg on Oct. 30, due to new safety regulations created by CMS this season.

The policy, which can include various ticket restrictions and additional safety measures, came about after violent incidents at football games on several CMS campuses this fall, including at West Charlotte.

Those regulations also affected at least one home game each at Olympic, Mallard Creek, and Independence. Some schools, including South Mecklenburg, have chosen to adopt some of the CMS protocols on their own.

South Mecklenburg limited tickets for its regular-season home game with rival Myers Park, over attendance and parking concerns at Waddell High, where the game was played due to construction of South Meck’s campus.

Other high-profile games — including Hough-Myers Park and back-to-back Providence-Ardrey Kell games — were not played under the new CMS protocols.

West Charlotte has been restricted more times than the other district schools.

West Charlotte’s stadium, which was recently renovated, can accommodate more than 4,000 fans, and Friday’s game with Providence will be West Charlotte’s first home game since playing North Meck two weeks ago.

The Lions only had four regular-season home games this season, and school officials previously told The Observer that they had expected the Independence game to draw the biggest crowd of the season, and the limited ticket sales cost them at least $25,000 in revenue.

Schools not only lose ticket sales for home games with fewer patrons but also concessions, and football is the primary revenue driver for all CMS schools.

West Charlotte beat Providence, 42-7, at home on Sept. 12, in a game which drew a strong crowd.

The next week, on Sept. 19, there was an issue among fans during West Charlotte’s senior night home game with West Mecklenburg. And on Oct. 31, there was an incident after school in the bus parking lot on West Charlotte’s campus. A fight broke out and an officer slammed a female student to the ground.

In 2007, Providence had a playoff game scheduled at West Charlotte. Lions officials then told The Charlotte Observer that some Providence parents had expressed concern about playing at the school and wanted to play at a neutral site. The Observer reached out to additional West Charlotte staff that are no longer at the school but were there in 2007. Those officials agreed with the assessment.

The Observer reported that the 2007 game, which West Charlotte won 37-13, drew less than 100 fans from Providence.

Friday’s CMS football games

Chambers at Myers Park, 7 p.m.

Olympic at Sun Valley, 7 p.m.

Page at Independence, 7 p.m.

Palisades at Hough, 7 p.m.

Providence at West Charlotte, 6 p.m.

West Forsyth at Mallard Creek, 7 p.m.

This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 6:45 AM.