Carolina Panthers: Roger Goodell in town

Apr 28, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Vernon Butler (Louisiana Tech) with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected by the Carolina Panthers as the number thirty overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft at Auditorium Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 28, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Vernon Butler (Louisiana Tech) with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected by the Carolina Panthers as the number thirty overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft at Auditorium Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Carolina Panthers hosted an NFL owners meeting where commissioner Roger Goodell took part.

It’s always good news for the Carolina Panthers when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is in town. The Commish was here for an owners meeting. During the press coverage of the owners meeting Goodell made two points. One is that the NFL stands against the HB2 legislation. Two is that Charlotte is not ready to host the Super Bowl.

You weren’t thinking of Charlotte as a Super Bowl hosting city anyway? Cold weather and outdoors? My friend you are living the Age of Post-New York Super Bowl where anything is possible. Or would be if you have enough hotels and other stuff to handle the influx of humanity that visits during Super Bowl time.

There is a NFL mandate for hotel rooms in a Super Bowl host city. That number is 20,000 and the city doesn’t have it as of right now. There is also a mandated outdoor temperature, but that didn’t stop the League from finding a way to get to New York.

More from Carolina Panthers

I think putting a Super Bowl in Charlotte is rather far down on the League’s to-do list. The NFL did announce the next three Super Bowl sites for 2019, 2020, and 2021 and Atlanta is on that list. Atlanta will either have a dome or a brand new stadium by then. One thing Atlanta is also missing are discriminatory laws.

Which leads us to HB2 and the elephant in the room. Goodell did speak to that issue too. He said the league supports the city’s position against the bill. He said that there was no room in the NFL for discrimination. The Panthers have been lobbying behind the scenes to ‘stakeholders.’

Next: Looking Briefly at Panthers in Fantasy

Goodell did note that there were no plans to move the Panthers. The NBA has taken a similar line on the Charlotte Hornets, except that the 2017 All-Star Game was supposed to be in town this upcoming season. The NBA has not pulled the trigger on a move yet, but neither has the situation improved.