In an eerie bit of foreshadowing not even two months ago, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio theorized that Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper wouldn’t be below taking his ball and going home if and when he couldn’t get his way.
“Frankly, there’s a good chance Tepper is playing high-level hardball with Rock Hill as a shot across the bow at Charlotte,” Florio wrote in April when the Rock Hill deal began to crumble. “The hard bargain Tepper has chosen to drive in South Carolina could be a precursor to the hard bargain he’ll drive in North Carolina.
“Maybe that’s why Tepper seems to be untroubled by the current situation. His deeper message could be far more pointed.
“Give me what I want, or I eventually will be gone.”
Well, he didn’t get his way in South Carolina. And now, he’s gone.
As reported by Joseph Person and Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic late Wednesday night, the eighth-richest owner in all of professional sports put his real estate holding company, GT Real Estate Holdings, into chapter 11 bankruptcy. That, in turn, officially closes the billionaire’s chapter on the Rock Hill headquarters.
GT Real State Holdings released the following statement:
#BREAKING: GT Real Estate files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after terminating agreements to build a Panthers practice facility in Rock Hill. @wcnc pic.twitter.com/7UeOx2Uptz
— Indira Eskieva WCNC (@IndiraEskieva) June 2, 2022
We will provide you with further updates on this development as they become available.