The Duke’s Mayo Bowl, held January 3, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium, reportedly brings in millions to the city of Charlotte each year. Along with other events like the Ally Tipoff and Duke’s Mayo Classic, the Charlotte Sports Foundation says its events brought in around $160 million in 2022 and 2023.
“We want to bring people to the city to spend money,” said Miller Yoho, director of communication and marketing at Charlotte Sports Foundation. Started in 2010, the foundation took over management of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, an event that started in 2002 in what’s believed to be the fastest sellout of a first-year bowl game in history. Today, it hosts several big name events year round with a mission that extends to a wide array of community benefits. “We know that when people come, they buy food, they stay in hotels, they purchase things. That really affects the hospitality industry,” continued Yoho.
In addition to the economics, the foundation directly helps community nonprofits and residents. According to Yoho, each event has its own unique impact. The Duke’s Mayo Bowl teams helped a local food pantry this year, and awarded the Jimmie Lee Kirkpatrick Award and scholarship to a local high school athlete. The 2022 Mayo Classic between North Carolina Central University and North Carolina A&T State University generated over $300,000 in donations, grants and scholarships. Although not returning in 2025, the Jumpman Invitational in December commissioned artists from Helene-damaged western North Carolina to be part of its “Art with Air” exhibit.
“Every year there is just such a diverse offering of community impact programming,” said Yoho.“There have been design programs where kids from the Carolina Youth Coalition learned how to design a shirt from the guy who designed the (Air) Jordan 5. Truist was able to bring western (North) Carolina artists to showcase their work and help them as small businesses when they were directly affected by Helene.”
One of Charlotte Sports Foundation’s flagship events connects directly with Charlotte residents. Yoho says the Meck Mile is an event that anyone can be a part of, from competitors trying to get a new personal best or a family just out to get some exercise. The mile race was “aimed at being somebody’s first or fastest mile,” said Yoho. Last year, the race included a professional runner who ran a 4:05 mile and an 86-year-old grandmother running for the first time. The event is already one of the top-ranked miles in the United States.
Charlotte Sports Foundation has announced larger groups and a new date for 2025. The event, planned for May 10, will also support people in western North Carolina.
Yoho said they also want to bring something new and unique to the city with each event they plan. The Ally Tipoff showcased women’s college basketball. According to ESPN, the Ally Tipoff averaged around 15,000 fans for the inaugural 2023 event between Iowa and Virginia Tech, breaking North Carolina’s record for a regular-season women’s basketball game. In 2024, the event saw similar crowd sizes with three 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four teams — NC State, South Carolina and Iowa.
“We believe the Ally Tipoff is the premier regular season women’s basketball event in the country,” said CSF executive director Danny Morrison in a press statement. Ally Financial has extended its partnership with the foundation through 2026.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Foundation has a full slate of events planned for this year, including the Banana Ball, named the “most entertaining game of baseball” in June. The event is part of the Savannah Bananas’ 2025 World Tour. In 2024, the Bananas visited six Major League Baseball venues and consistently sold out their games in under 24 hours.
“We are excited to welcome the Savannah Bananas to Charlotte,” said Steve Bagwell, chief executive officer of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA) in a press release from the foundation. “Their fan-first entertainment not only captivates audiences but also brings significant economic benefits to our community,” he continued. “We look forward to the meaningful boost this partnership will bring to our local economy and the joy it will bring to families in our region.”
According to Charlotte Sports Foundation, events in 2022 and 2023 combined were responsible for 150,000 hotel rooms booked in the city. With the announcement last week that the foundation, along with the city of Charlotte and the CRVA, had submitted a bid to host the CIAA Men and Women’s Basketball tournaments for the 2027-2029 cycle, more economic impact could be on the horizon.
The CIAA is a conference in Division II of the NCAA made up entirely of HBCUs and is an annual celebration of Black culture. Charlotte hosted the tournament from 2006 to 2020, before losing its bid to Baltimore. In 2019, the last tournament in Charlotte before 2020, a COVID year – the CIAA generated $43.7 million in economic impact and drew in approximately 140,000 fans.
According to a Charlotte Observer investigation, Charlotte is one of 10 cities invited to bid for CIAA. Cities must submit their bids by April 15.
Queens University News Service
