The MLS All-Star Game put Charlotte’s football rise in the spotlight. With a $1.3 billion revamp of Bank of America Stadium already in progress, the Queen City is looking to build further on that momentum.
CHARLOTTE -- "A mentor of mine used to say, 'If there's a rocket ship, don't ask where it's going, just jump on'."
Eric Sudol, Chief Revenue Officer of Tepper Sports & Entertainment, is sitting at a conference table inside the company’s new sales experience centre in Uptown Charlotte. The facility is called “MoMINTum”, a name displayed prominently throughout the building. Set on Mint Street, just steps from Bank of America Stadium, it serves both as a preview of what is on the way and as a nod to its location.
On this particular day, the attention is on football. The MLS All-Star Game has handed Charlotte another major moment for its growing profile as it tries to establish itself among the leading football cities in the United States. Charlotte FC made its debut in 2022, and in less than five years the city found itself hosting the first major American football event after the World Cup.
All-Star Games are rocket fuel, Sudol says. That is exactly why Charlotte went after this one.
“Think about the number of people moving to Charlotte,” he told GOAL, “and the fact that the Carolinas, together, would be the fifth-most populous state in the country. There are a lot of ingredients fuelling that rocket ship.”
For those who live in Charlotte, the All-Star Game felt like a kind of culmination. Charlotte FC has helped move football further into the city’s mainstream, filling bars, restaurants and parking lots every time the club plays at home. The local side had three All-Stars, the first three in Charlotte FC history. While the city’s official introduction to MLS came in 2022, this week felt like MLS being properly introduced to Charlotte.
"An All-Star game is a showcase, but it's an opportunity to showcase what the city is," Charlotte FC star Tim Ream said. "You know what the soccer culture is here, and you know how big it is. I have obviously been able to experience that with different teams: the national team, Charlotte FC, and now with the All-Star Game and the eyes that it brings. It's great to showcase what the city is about and the culture here in terms of soccer... It's what it's all about: connecting the people and the fans with the players and the league.
"We have a great opportunity to showcase what the city is."
It is important to note that the club did not create Charlotte’s football culture out of nothing. The Charlotte Eagles and Charlotte Independence had already laid professional foundations long before MLS arrived, but Charlotte FC brought a very different level of scale and visibility. What happens next will depend on how well Charlotte uses this latest showcase - and whether its huge stadium investment can keep that momentum alive.
Setting up the atmosphere
When Sudol first joined Tepper Sports & Entertainment, which owns both Charlotte FC and the Carolina Panthers, he was quickly met by a defining moment. The first match he attended in his current role was Charlotte FC's 2025 home opener against Atlanta. It still stands out to him.
"I remember standing and watching Pepas go off," he says, referring to the pre-match Poznan to the hit song, "and I just said to myself, 'This is different'. I've been a part of some great atmospheres. I've been a part of kind of selling a couple other MLS stadiums through my prior life, and one of them was LAFC, which is obviously known for its experience as well. But we are absolutely in the upper echelon.
"At the risk of coming across in a presumptuous way, I'm going to be careful with my comments, but I believe we can be the standard. That's the hope. That's the expectation. We're clearly right now one of, but I think we can be the, and we're going to do that too."
In its short time in MLS, Charlotte FC has backed that up. In 2025, Charlotte FC ranked third in MLS attendance, averaging just under 29,000 supporters per game. They hold the same position so far in 2026. Wednesday’s All-Star Game attracted a full house of 35,197, compared to the 20,738 who attended last year’s event in Austin.
And it is not only MLS. Earlier this summer, 57,741 fans turned up for the U.S. men’s national team’s send-off match against Senegal. USMNT star Christian Pulisic made a point of praising the atmosphere those supporters created after the game.
"The fans and the energy in the stadium really carried us through the beginning of the game," he said. "I was really impressed. I don't remember many better venues playing in America. I felt like the energy of the stadium was there, and that helped so much.
"I don't even know if it's underrated, like it's great. I just felt like the support was awesome. It just felt like so many, like a pro-U.S. crowd. It was just so fun to play in front of that. I really enjoyed it."
There has been no shortage of praise, but the club and city leadership are not satisfied with that alone. Instead, they are putting major investment into what comes next.
More fuel for the rocket
Sudol starts the tour at MoMINTum, which offers a look at the planned $1.3 billion renovation of Bank of America Stadium. Immersive rooms recreate the proposed stadium experience, while holograms, renderings and giant screens let visitors walk through the changes before they are built. Sudol says this is only the start.
The project is not being paid for by Tepper Sports alone. The City of Charlotte has committed up to $650 million in tourism-related tax revenue towards the work, while TSE will cover the remaining renovation costs and any overruns. The agreement also keeps the Panthers and Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium through 2045.
"When I sat down with Dave and Nicole [Tepper], I realized they're not about to sit still, right?" he said. "They're here to win in every aspect, and all the other things too. I realized this was a very communal and philanthropic approach they had, and so, if you look at the greatest community unifier, I would say arguably in the world, it is soccer, right? You see that on a bigger platform here.
Much of the redesign of Bank of America Stadium, which is scheduled to be completed by 2030, has been shaped with football in mind. One exterior corner will be turned into a pavilion where supporters can gather before the march to the match, while traffic flow will be altered to make room for tailgating and supporters’ marches. The plans also feature new bars, suites and lounges, along with a standing-room-only patio behind one goal that looks out over the Charlotte skyline.
Other additions include a concert venue, a speakeasy, a new scoreboard and upgraded seating. Rather than move away from their centrally located home to a newer stadium, Charlotte FC and the Carolina Panthers are trying to turn Bank of America Stadium into one of the country’s leading sports and entertainment venues.
More than an All-Star Game
For players and supporters, the All-Star Game was mainly about what took place on the pitch. From the training facility a short drive from downtown to the two venues that staged events, the week mostly ran smoothly, apart from weather delaying the Skills Challenge.
"I think the fans are amazing," MLS All-Star Zavier Gozo said, "and the city and the stadium, training facilities are all amazing. I think it was an amazing experience, and good to be in a new place and see this."
Behind the scenes, though, the event also brought together the most important decision-makers in MLS. This past week, for instance, the league’s Board of Governors reportedly began discussing changes to MLS roster construction. The All-Star Game is one of the few times in the calendar when executives from across the league are all in the same city.
That makes the event a form of advertisement for the host city. Charlotte had the chance to present itself not only to supporters, but also to MLS owners, league sponsors and hundreds of executives representing dozens of companies.
“What an opportunity,” Sudol said. “Here in this great city, this great region, we’re on the brightest stage and the biggest stage. It’s like buying a great infomercial about what’s happening here and letting that story out, and we do it on the backs of the world’s game.”
By the weekend, MLS clubs were back in action and the league’s focus had moved elsewhere. The All-Star spectacle had passed, leaving Charlotte to work out what it could build from the week.
A football city
Charlotte is already thinking about the next major event and expects to chase such opportunities whenever they arise. There has even been discussion of a Super Bowl coming to the city once the renovations are finished.
“I think if the growth [in this city] continues,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, “that is probably somewhere down the line.”
But football remains at the heart of those ambitions. Bank of America Stadium is home to Charlotte FC, has already drawn major crowds for the U.S. men’s national team and has now hosted the MLS All-Star Game. Many parts of the renovation, from the supporters’ gathering area to the redesigned march route and the social patio behind the goal, are meant to build on that base.
In the short term, Charlotte FC hopes the All-Star Game can act as a gateway. Some fans may have come to watch Son Heung-min or their favourite Liga MX player. The club now wants to convince them to come back for a Charlotte FC match.
“We’re in the resume-building business for this city and the region,” Sudol said. “We’re in the resume-building business for Charlotte FC, right? You think about the number of people that move here that have not had exposure to Charlotte FC. If this becomes the gateway, what an opportunity for us.”
That, in the end, is the opportunity Charlotte sees in football. Charlotte FC did not create the local culture from scratch, but the club has given it a major-league platform. The All-Star Game showed how far the city has come, while the growing conversation around hosting events such as the Super Bowl shows how much larger its ambitions have become. The stadium renovation is a $1.3 billion wager on how much further both can still go.
