A notable NFL facilities renovation is underway, as the Carolina Panthers are removing seating at Bank of America Stadium to make way for new bunker suites.
Over the offseason, the Panthers are embarking on a renovation project that will yield new premium offerings at Bank of America Stadium. Roughly 900 seats in the lower-level of seating in the west end zone are being torn out, clearing the way for the addition of 14 new bunker suites that will offer the ability to host at least 12 people.
The Panthers announced the bunker suites project on Friday, and work on the renovation is already underway. Under the current timeline, the new suites should be in place ahead of the team’s first 2020 preseason games in August. More from The Riot Report:
“We’re excited, this is a huge step forward in terms of stadium enhancements for us, so we’ve got a number of them planned on the way,” Joe LaBue, Panthers Vice President of Ticket Sales said on Friday morning. “This is the first one. If you have been to other stadium, you probably have seen similar products. Ours is going to be a little bit different from the fact that they’re going to be seating outdoors. It will be sort of a neighborhood area behind the seats and suite owners are going to have their own private space behind that.”
While the Panthers are still finalizing what they will actually look like, the plan is to have three to four rows of comfortable seating. The tunnel suites next to the locker rooms will have see-through glass so fans will be able to look at the players and the Panthers team stepping onto the field.
“Really, accessability is big here,” LaBue said. “We did the 53 Club last year, which was huge for us. So we’ve taken a lot from what we learned there and what fans have asked for and we’ve gotten a lot of good feedback and we try to use that and been very intentional with the planning of these.”
There are other changes that will take place at Bank of America Stadium in the near future, including renovations to accommodate an upcoming MLS expansion team backed by Panthers owner David Tepper. The MLS squad will begin play in the spring of 2021.
Archival image of Bank of America Stadium courtesy Carolina Panthers.