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Charlotte FC Formation
The Charlotte City Council approved $110 million in stadium and franchise funding in late November, using revenue from a hospitality tax. The MLS Board of Governors convened in early December to discuss the Charlotte bid and authorized final negotiations with Tepper. The expansion team was officially awarded to Charlotte by MLS at an event at the Mint Museum on December 17, 2019, with them to begin to play in 2021. The expansion fee to be paid by Tepper is reported to be near $325 million, a 62.5 percent increase from what was paid by the successful bids for St. Louis and Sacramento earlier in the year. The team sold 7,000 season-ticket deposits in the first 24 hours after the expansion announcement. On July 17, 2020, MLS announced that the Charlotte expansion team’s debut would be delayed by a year to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The largest local supporters group, the Mint City Collective, was launched in June 2019 to support the MLS expansion bid. It was founded by several members of the Roaring Riot, a Panthers fan club, and has 600 members as of December 2019. Other supporters groups include the Queen’s Firm, founded in 2017, and West End Collective. The largest unofficial news and blog page is Charlotte FC Today, which also has amassed a large following on Instagram.
Established
2019
City
Charlotte
League History
2021 – Present / Major League Soccer
Team History
2021 – Present / Charlotte FC
Nickname
Charlotte FC – In December 2019, several media outlets reported that Tepper Sports had submitted a trademark filing that included eight potential names: Charlotte FC, Charlotte Crown FC, Charlotte Fortune FC, Charlotte Monarchs FC, Charlotte Athletic FC, Charlotte Town FC, Carolina Gliders FC, and All Carolina FC. A name announcement was scheduled for June 2020, but was delayed a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Charlotte FC name and crest were revealed during a livestream event on July 22, 2020.
Championship
MLS Cups 0
Stadium
2021 – Present / Bank of America Stadium
Owner
2019 – Present / David Tepper
Retired Number
*Blue is this team’s history