Sir Purr
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- Mar 16, 2019
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SPARTANBURG – Business leaders from around the Carolinas, many from the Greenville-Spartanburg region, convened at Wofford College on Tuesday morning for the “Deloitte Panthers Kickoff Breakfast.”
The event featured remarks from head coach Ron Rivera, owner David Tepper and team president Tom Glick.
The Panthers and Deloitte Consulting are launching a partnership, and this breakfast was an opportunity for the leaders of the franchise to speak on what’s to come on and off the field in 2019 and beyond.
Glick announced that Deloitte is helping the Panthers envisage a technology infrastructure at Bank of America Stadium and the eventual new team facility in Rock Hill which will bring immediate commercial impact.
When Tepper took the stage, he spoke about ways in which the Panthers can be a major unifying asset for the region.
“When you look from a marketing perspective, we have a huge opportunity,” Tepper said. “This team has been underutilized as a brand in the past.”
The “All or Nothing” series on Amazon Prime Video, the London game this season, a growing social media presence in other countries – they are all ways in which the brand is growing.
“We should be thinking bigger,” Tepper said.
Tepper isn’t afraid to throw out big ideas – like his push for an Major League Soccer team or his desire to put a retractable roof on the stadium to attract the NCAA Final Four to Charlotte (both topics came up at the breakfast). But he also mentioned the little things he’s paying attention to, like wanting bike trails to connect through the Rock Hill campus.
All of this is still new to Tepper, who became Panthers owner in May of 2018, but when asked about the transition, he said the philosophies he developed in the hedge fund world have been applicable in the NFL.
“Business is business. I don’t know how to say it any other way,” Tepper said. “Good management process, good decision-making? Same thing.
“When you come in as a new owner, you are a little bit mystified by the football side. You don’t want to screw things up.
“But the troubles last year helped me understand what it was and it led to revamping the management structures.”
Speaking of revamping, Rivera spoke about the ways in which Carolina addressed areas of needs this offseason.