CHARLOTTE FC

Charlotte FC, which played its first friendly Tuesday against Grenada in Florida, has surpassed 60,000 tickets to its inaugural MLS home opener against LA Galaxy. The goal is to set a league record for single-game attendance.

Charlotte FC is in position to make good on some of its more ambitious first-year goals.

Nick Kelly, CEO of Tepper Sports and Entertainment, the soccer franchise’s parent company, met with media earlier this week to discuss progress on the team’s ticket and attendance goals as well as aspirations for a successful first season. A major goal for the franchise – setting a new mark for single-game attendance – is within reach while topping 20,000 season tickets sold is encouraging.

Responses are edited for brevity and clarity.

On closing in on selling out the first home match against LA Galaxy for a new MLS attendance record:

“We recently passed 60,000 tickets for the inaugural match, so we’re just over 10,000 away from hitting our target of 74[,000]. We still need some help locally to get there. We’ve got 30 days to get there but to be over 60[,000] already with 30 plus days to get there, we’re fairly confident that we can make that happen before kick.”

On goals for home attendance over the inaugural season:

“I think the second one for us really is that we’ve exceeded 20,000 season tickets and we'll be able to share a rough final number coming out of the inaugural match as well. That becomes really important for us, too.

“Our targets haven’t changed. We’re still pretty bullish about it, especially now that we see the team on the field. We still want to have the largest match, we still want to average 30,000 [attendance per game] and we still want to host a playoff match, so everything we’re doing right now is still to push towards those things.”

On limiting access to the upper deck of Bank of America Stadium outside the opener:

“We’re very bullish on the fact that we’re going to save the upper deck for special events. And by special, I mean like a playoff game. I think that we’d rather have 30,000-35,000 in the lower bowl that is jam-packed and the energy you can feel than 40,000 is spread out. I think that we will we’ve gotten buy-in from [owner David] Tepper all the way down to the stadium [operations] and grounds crew the first match is the one that we will go full bowl and then the rest of it is just lower. And I think that I think our fans will appreciate it.”

On whether 2021 MLS Cup winner NYCFC, which Charlotte FC President Tom Glick built as an expansion club, provides a blueprint for successful management of expectations:

“How much does anybody have patience for even one or two seasons? Fans are putting hard-earned dollars on things, so I think that we want to manage expectations and fans aren’t meant to be managed, but we have the same aspirations they do. We are bullish and bold and saying we don’t just want to make the playoffs; we want to host a playoff game. That sets an expectation that we are not only competitive on the on the field, but also competitive and being one of the top tier teams in our conference.”

On getting players going into the community to raise awareness of the team, especially those with Charlotte ties like Jaylin Lindsay and Brandt Bronico:

“It’s a balance. Prior to getting the entire club here, we were fortunate to have both (Raleigh native) Adam Armour and Brandt down here playing for the [Charlotte] Independence and the ability to utilize [them] to be the face of the club for a period of time was extremely valuable, especially as we’re building because we didn’t have a team at the time. There is going to be a pressure is probably not the right word, but there's gonna be an expectation to that people like Jalen and people like Brandt and Adam are doing their part in introducing Charlotte and the Carolinas to some of these guys.”

On balancing fan expectations of success and whether they should look for a playoff team in the first season:

“Again, fan expectations are really driven from what they’re telling us and they're all very realistic. I mean, even some of them I’ve talked to like our Supporters Council, talking to some of the people I met my first day last year is they just want us to be fun, they want us to be competitive. This is a long-term project for them. They want to build some traditions, they want to build a fan base and they just want us to show that we care as much as they care.”

Comments