Axios Charlotte

October 16, 2022
Hello, Sunday. It's Katie.
🌤 Today it'll be 80° and partly cloudy.
🎂 Happy birthday to Axios Charlotte members Lynne Helms, Catherine Levett, David Oakley and Stuart Watson.
Today's newsletter is 625 words, a 2½-minute read.
1 big thing: 😭 Sad Panthers fans
Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
Last week at the Panthers-49ers game, Bank of America Stadium was a sea of red jerseys.
- It's hard to know if opposing fans outnumbered Panthers fans, but it sure looked like it. The home crowd was anemic.
What's happening: Empty seats at Bank of America Stadium — or seats filled with opposing fans — have become an increasingly common sight as the Panthers' losses mount.
- When casual fans opt out of paying to see a habitually losing team, all you're left with is the small cadre of die-hards with season tickets.
Why it matters: Plenty of Panthers fans are not only skipping traveling to see the team, they're not showing up to home games. That helps erode any home-field advantage — and it dulls the mood.
- "At this point, they're not even angry anymore," said Zack Luttrell, who started the Roaring Riot fan group in 2008. "People just don't care. They're totally uninterested in the team, and I don’t blame them."
By the numbers: In past losing seasons, Roaring Riot would still routinely travel with around 300 fans to away games. This year, Luttrell has four trips with fewer than 50 Panthers fans confirmed to attend.
- Roaring Riot has also trimmed its staff from six to two, Luttrell says, because of a revenue decline stemming from the team's lack of success and restricted game attendance during the pandemic.
Flashback: The current environment on Mint Street seems like a lifetime removed from the magical 2015 season, which culminated in a trip to the Super Bowl.
- But so much of what fans loved about that season — Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis, dabbing, Thieves Ave. (the name defensive backs gave themselves), coach Ron Rivera — is long gone.
Yes, but: Plenty of longtime fans are upbeat, and even optimistic, about what's to come under interim head coach Steve Wilks.
- PSL owner Patrick Nance wishes fans wouldn't boo their home team, which has happened enough recently at Bank of America Stadium. He also wants to remind dejected fans that sports are supposed to be fun.
"If your hobby is making you so miserable that you find yourself being overtly negative publicly about everything, I feel you need a new hobby," he says.
Full story: Some Panthers are worse than mad — they just don't care
💼 Fresh openings from our Job Board
If you're on the hunt for a new job, here are 36 to get you started.
- Director of Sales & Guest Reservations at Discovery Place. Apply.
- Volunteer & Communications Coordinator at Promising Pages. Apply.
- Directory Services Senior Engineering Manager at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Talent Acquisition Manager at YMCA of Greater Charlotte. Apply.
- Associate at LoveStream. Apply.
- Lead Information Security Engineer at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Marketplace Development Associate (Axios Local) at Axios. Apply.
- Assistant General Manager at Club Pilates Huntersville. Apply.
- Account Manager at WFAE. Apply.
- Manager at Paper Skyscraper. Apply.
- Rockstar Art Director at Moonlight Creative. Apply.
- Development Director at Children's Theatre of Charlotte. Apply.
- Java Senior Software Engineer at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Senior Information Security Engineer at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Warehouse Manager at Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region. Apply.
- Seasonal to Permanent Sales Professional at Paper Skyscraper. Apply.
- Customer Success Coordinator at POS Nation. Apply.
- Director of The Royals Club at Queens University of Charlotte. Apply.
- New Construction Site Supervisor at Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region. Apply.
- Major Gifts Senior Manager at Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region. Apply.
- Global Studies Assistant at Charlotte Latin School. Apply.
- Project Architect, Service Retail at Little Diversified Architectural Consulting Inc.. Apply.
- Senior Production Support Engineer at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Business Development Manager at POS Nation. Apply.
- Partnerships & Faith Relations Senior Specialist at Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region. Apply.
- Salesforce Administrator at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Senior Software Engineer at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Principal Engineer - Contact Center as a Service at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Part-Time Spanish Instructor at Eastover Elementary PTA. Apply.
- Senior Information Security Engineer at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Youth Services Director at YMCA of Greater Charlotte. Apply.
- Warehouse Inventory Specialist at Rose Gold Rebel. Apply.
- Marketing Coordinator at Harker, LLC. Apply.
- Product Delivery Leader - Principal Technology Business Services Consultant at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Lead Software Engineer at Wells Fargo. Apply.
- Automation Support Engineer at Wells Fargo. Apply.
Want more opportunities? Check out all openings on our Job Board.
Hiring? Post a job.
🔥 Hot Job
Manager at Paper Skyscraper.
- Company overview: Charlotte’s premier gift shop for 30 over years.
- In this role: Responsible for managing the day-to-day retail operations of the store, including sales and service, team leadership, and operational excellence.
- Must-have: Minimum 2 years of experience in retail store management.
Interested? Apply here.
2. ⚡️ Biz lightning round
Photo: Katie Peralta Soloff/Axios
🍿 Today is the last day of business for Regal Phillips Place. Charlotte developer Lincoln Harris plans to build a 10-story office tower on the site as part of ongoing development at Phillips Place. (Charlotte Ledger)
✂️ Modern Salon & Spa is closing at the Metropolitan as the midtown shopping center undergoes a makeover under new owners Northwood Investors. Its last day will be Nov. 5, according to an email to customers. The salon will relocate to a new TBD location.
- Salon Lofts, which rents space to independent beauty professionals, is taking over the 4,360-square-foot space, a spokesperson for Northwood tells Axios.
🏗 Construction on the Moxy hotel in Uptown is moving forward under new owners. The hotel on South Brevard is slated to open in September 2024. (CBJ)
🛒 Harris Teeter's parent company Kroger is buying Albertsons for $24.6 billion. (Observer)
Party with South End’s new orthodontist 🦷
Photo: Alivia McAtee
Burrow, Welchel & Culp Orthodontics is having a grand opening for their new office and HQ in South End next Saturday.
Even better: It’s right in front of The Horseshoe, so they’re teaming up to throw an epic grand opening party from 2-6pm at 1515 Mint St.
The deets: Attendees can get free beer, whitening kits, AirPods and even braces.
3. 🕯 1 goodbye to go...
Photo: Axios archives
Some sad news to share: Peter Zeiler, Mecklenburg County's economic development director for seven years, passed away this month. He was 54.
- Zeiler was part of a team that recruited big-name employers to Charlotte over the years, from the ACC to Arrival to Honeywell.
- "Peter felt the best part of his work was seeing the final impact of a project everyone said was impossible," county manager Dena Diorio said in an email to staff.
💭 My thought bubble: Peter was kind and always took the time to speak candidly with me. I'm thinking of his family in this difficult time.
🎃 We took the baby to Hodges Family Farm last week for pumpkins. It was my first time at a pumpkin patch in years, and we loved seeing the sheep, horses, pigs and chickens as we perused rows of pumpkins.
- I recommend a trip there if you're still on the hunt for a local spot for pumpkins. It's about a 15-minute drive from NoDa.
Today's newsletter was edited by Kayla Sharpe and copy edited by Sheryl Miller.
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