BANK OF AMERICA STADIUM
STADIUM DUDE NFL STADIUM RANK: #28
STADIUM INFORMATION
- Location: Charlotte, NC
- Opened: 1996
- Capacity: 73,778
- Weather: Comfortable (ranked the best of the 20 outdoor venues)
- Games attended: 2
- Last visited: 2024
STADIUM REVIEW
Charlotte is a charming city reflective of the new south. Home to many young professionals, it’s a fairly liberal town with a temperate year-round climate, and a good bar and restaurant scene. It’s an enjoyable place to head for a football weekend.
The Vault was built for $248 million in 1996 and funded largely through Personal Seat Licenses. It sits in a great location in uptown Charlotte just on the outskirts of the Central Business District. Now one of the league’s oldest venues, the structure itself is pretty basic by modern standards. Seating matches team colors, and sight lines are good, but very few are under any sort of cover. Other than the threatening-looking panther statues, there aren’t currently many notable features.
Its urban location spreads the pre-game tailgate around to various lots. But walk the area on Game Day and the smells of Carolina BBQ wafting through the parking lots will hit you. It’s a glorious scent that worthy of its own Yankee Candle.
The team has upgraded its concession game somewhat. Decent Carolina BBQ and a fine selection of local craft brews (albeit, in one centralized stand on the 100-level) can make bad Panther football a lot more enjoyable.
The stadium will soon go through a renovation that will cost more than 3 times the original construction price. While it won’t bring a whole lot of new shade, it will make it a lot more swanky, and should keep the team in the city for a while longer. Now, if they can only find a quarterback!
