The Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC are furloughing and reducing full-time staff
Tepper Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC, furloughed more than 16 full-time employees and laid off at least three others this week. The move was due to financial hardships related to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The pandemic has caused significant disruption to our events calendar across Tepper Sports and Entertainment,” Steven Drummond, the Panthers’ Vice President of Communications and External Affairs said. “As has been the case with a number of organizations, these circumstances have led us to implement various actions, including a reduction in staff size. We are hopeful these measures are temporary and that health and economic conditions improve in the near future.”
The staff changes impact the organization across departments and salary levels. Affected departments include security, community relations, ticketing and entertainment. The furloughs are expected to remain through January 31 and were targeted to in part to preserve the team’s operations. The hope is that these changes will minimize the moves that the company, which has fewer than 300 employees, needs to make going forward.
In May, the Panthers parted ways with more than 10 employees. Those moves were unrelated to the pandemic and extended to many employees who had been with the Panthers organization for several years.
Owner of both the Panthers and Charlotte FC, David Tepper is the founder and CEO of global hedge fund Appaloosa Management and is the richest owner in the NFL, worth an estimated $13 billion, according to Forbes. He bought the Panthers in 2018 for $2.275 billion, and purchased Charlotte FC, the 30th MLS expansion team, for more than $200 million. The first MLS season in Charlotte has been delayed until 2022.
Professional sports teams around the country, including the Atlanta Falcons and Monumental Sports — which operates D.C.-based professional franchises — have suffered similar staff reductions due to the economic climate. Many of the staffing changes in sports have come as sports leagues, including MLB and the NBA, have reduced the number of games played or moved games from their home stadiums.
The Carolina Hurricanes are among the professional teams that have furloughed employees this year.
The NFL canceled all preseason games, eliminating the team’s revenue potential from two home preseason contests. The Panthers have already announced that there will be limited attendance at home games this year and gave PSL owners the option to decline their season tickets for the 2020 season.
The Panthers are in the process of beginning construction on their new facility in Rock Hill, which will last for several years, and recently updated Bank of America Stadium for the addition of the MLS team, as well as other renovations to one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 10:33 AM.
