Bank of America Stadium Traffic Plan Gets Overhaul as Events Triple and $800M Renovation Begins

Tepper Sports & Entertainment has kicked off a big traffic fix at Bank of America Stadium. Why now? An $800 million makeover starts this year. The city and Tepper Sports each threw in $190,000 late last year, hiring Kimley-Horn to examine the area surrounding the 74,000-seat building in uptown Charlotte.

Meetings started in January. Tepper Sports, Kimley-Horn, city officials, CMPD, and Charlotte Department of Transportation have gathered twice monthly since then, tweaking event-day traffic while plotting bigger shifts down the road.

Last year, the stadium welcomed 47 ticketed events — way up from just 15 back in 2018. Charlotte FC arrived in 2019, and a push to book concerts sent attendance soaring.

Eric Sudol and Bonnie Almond work at Tepper Sports as chief revenue officer and vice president of venue operations. They told CBJ that parking and traffic issues rank at or near the top when fans share feedback about their visits. The group wants a smoother, better-coordinated traffic setup by 2030.

"It's a process that is dynamic and will be ongoing as the city continues to evolve," Sudol told CBJ. "We had to hit the reset button a little bit. Also, as we think about what we want this stadium to be, what we want this experience to be, how you get there and how you get out has a substantive impact on your overall experience."

Tepper Sports & Entertainment runs the NFL Carolina Panthers, MLS squad Charlotte FC, and the stadium itself. Making fans happy has been a top goal as events have ballooned over recent years.

The $800 million redo wraps in 2030. Construction happens in chunks so the stadium can stay open during most of the work.

This traffic study matters more than ever. The venue now books more than triple the events it did six years ago, turning traffic flow and parking into make-or-break factors when ticket buyers decide if they had a good time.