In 1988, Charlotte took a gamble.

A basketball team arrived in town, better known for banking than buzzer beaters.

Back then, uptown was a ghost town after five o'clock.

What followed wasn't just about wins and losses.

As "Carolina Impact's" Chris Clark shows us, it was the start of a transformation that would reshape how this city sees itself.

The economic impact of sports on our region proves it was a gamble worth taking.

(air whooshes) (crowd roaring) - [Chris] Before Charlotte was a destination, it was already a sports town, but nationally, it was a place people passed through, not a place they came to.

- I remember walking into my boss's office at the Miami Herald and telling him that I was going back to Charlotte and he said, "Why would you go back to the minor leagues?

You're already in the majors."

- [Chris] Even people inside the business weren't quite sure where Charlotte belonged.

- Where is Charlotte again?

Wait, I thought it was in Charlottesville, Charleston, West Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina.

- [Chris] That blur began to sharpen in 1988.

(crowd cheering) - We got the Hornets.

We felt like, oh, we're becoming that city.

We're coming a big city.

- [Chris] The Hornets gave Charlotte something it had never had before.

Permanence, a major league identity, and almost immediately, the city was tested.

- They told me, even in my job interview, I think they rolled the streets up at five o'clock in downtown.

- After five, six, it was like tumbleweeds in the desert.

There's nothing, there's nothing down here.

- [Chris] A nine-to-five city trying to host the country's biggest weekends.

It wasn't ready, but it was willing.

And that willingness showed in 1991 when the NBA All-Star game came to town, and again in '94 when the NCAA Final Four arrived.

- What they created was a makeshift, what they called, "Street of Champions."

All these pop-up bars, all these temporary locations and vacant storefronts.

- [Chris] It was improvised, temporary, but it worked.

Charlotte proved it could host even if it had to build the atmosphere from scratch.

Then came the moment that locked Charlotte onto the national map.

- Very pleased to announce that the Carolina Panthers have been unanimously selected as the- (crowd screaming) - [Chris] After one season in Clemson, the Panthers opened Bank of America Stadium and Charlotte stopped being confused with somewhere else and became a city with its name on the screen every Sunday.

- An NFL franchise changes everything for a city.

- [Chris] At first, the stadium followed the rhythm of football.

- Doing something like 17 events a year.

That's not much 'cause 10 of them are Panthers games, including the exhibitions.

- [Chris] That rhythm changed when David Tepper bought the team.

- Now they do a somewhere around 40 or 45, and that makes a big dent, and most of 'em are concerts.

- [Chris] The stadium stopped being seasonal.

- The number one economic driver day-to-day in Charlotte is an active Bank of America stadium.

- [Chris] Today, one in nine Charlotteans works in leisure and hospitality, jobs tied directly to visitors, events and nights downtown.

(whistle blowing) (crowd cheering) As Charlotte proved it could host, it started stacking something harder to earn than events, and that's trust.

- Once that one kind of domino fell, it kind of kept it going.

- [Chris] The NBA moved uptown into Spectrum Center, neutral site events followed, and Charlotte wasn't guessing anymore.

It was organizing.

(crowd roaring) In 2010, Charlotte anchored its racing heritage uptown with the NASCAR Hall of Fame, not replacing the speedway, but reinforcing it.

(crowd clamoring) The annual bowl game followed, then the ACC Football Championship, and Charlotte was a part of the national calendar every winter.

(crowd cheering) When the Charlotte Knights returned uptown, baseball became part of daily life again.

And in the years that followed, the Atlantic Coast Conference made Charlotte its home, bringing championships and major events, not just for one weekend, but repeatedly.

- When they decided to come to Charlotte as a conference, it made sense due to all the factors, the businesses, the airports, all that stuff, but also the ability to host, not only men's, women's basketball here, not only their football championship, but men's and women's lacrosse, baseball every other year, additional championships.

- [Chris] Charlotte wasn't rotating anymore, it was central.

Then came validation.

(announcers exclaiming) (crowd cheering) In 2019, the NBA All-Star game came back.

This time, nothing had to be invented.

The hotels were there, the restaurants were there.

The infrastructure was already built.

- That allows us to talk to Jordan brand and bring the Jumpman Invitational for three years, which then allowed the Dick Vitale Invitational and working with ESPN.

- [Chris] And it opened the door for something new.

In 2019, Charlotte was awarded an MLS franchise, and by 2022, Charlotte FC was filling Bank of America stadium.

- It brings people into the city, it gives people an excuse to get out of the suburbs, and let's come into the city to see a football game, to see a basketball game or a soccer game, or a concert at that.

- [Chris] By 2025, sporting events alone generated $333 million in economic impact.

- It's only now hitting the second generation of fans.

Like my kids never grew up without a sport of an NFL team here.

- [Chris] In fiscal year 2025, events tied to Charlotte generated $1.2 billion in economic impact.

33 million visitors, nearly half a million hotel room nights.

Charlotte didn't become a destination overnight, but it became one by delivering again and again.

- Charlotte's always wanted to be a world-class city, and this has gotten them closer.

I don't think they have the Democratic National Convention here without the pro sports teams.

- [Chris] Sports didn't just bring fans, they brought confidence, which is why today when Major League Baseball talks expansion, Charlotte's name comes up.

- Something that shouldn't be taken lightly.

For so long, you know, we had to bite, scratch everything to get into the conversation to be mentioned as the third possible city to host this.

And now we're being considered on the first list of things.

- [Chris] Charlotte isn't making a pitch.

It's making room.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Chris Clark.

(engine revving)