Renovations at Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, will open the door for a new HBCU football classic.
A recent meeting of the North Carolina Central Board of Trustees alluded to a future HBCU football classic featuring its program in 2028 and 2029.
“The city of Charlotte, just entered an agreement with Tepper Sport(s) to renovate the Bank of America Stadium,” read the speaker at the Board of Trustees meeting. “But also, because of the renovation Tepper Sport(s) has agreed to allow North Carolina Central to play in 2028 and 2029 in the HBCU Football Classic.”
The Charlotte City Council voted last month to approve a joint $800 million stadium renovation plan with the Carolina Panthers that ties the NFL team to the city for the next 20 years.
Under the policy document, the city will pay $650 million toward the renovation of Bank of America Stadium in return for Panthers owner David Tepper keeping the team in Charlotte through 2045. Tepper will pay the remaining $150 million up front.
The unnamed HBCU football classic will not be North Carolina Central’s first game at the NFL stadium. NCCU played archival North Carolina A&T at BOA Stadium back in 2022 and is set to do it again in 2027. More than 35,000 fans attended the previous game between the two teams.
“So, AD (Director of Athletics Dr. Skip Perkins), we’re going to be in Charlotte three years in a row,” the speaker remarked.
No opponent has been named for the newly announced games.