The Carolina Panthers have been silent about their unfinished headquarters development, and a York County councilman told Charlotte Business Journal that he thinks the team has permanently abandoned the project.

Tepper Sports and Entertainment, the Panthers’ parent company, paused work on the 240-acre development nearly one month ago due to Rock Hill’s failure to distribute $225 million worth of bonds for infrastructure improvements.

“This is going to be a stain on our name for other businesses,” councilman Bump Roddey said, acknowledging that the city didn’t keep its end of the bargain. Roddey believes the Panthers will seek to recover their expenses from the city of Rock Hill.

• CBJ reported that earlier estimates showed private investment on the project would total as much as $2 billion upon completion, with local and state governments committing $400 million.
• The project included a 5,000-seat stadium field, an indoor practice center, and medical, training, and nutrition facilities. Tepper, which owns the plot, has plans to develop the area over the next 20 years.

Silence Speaks

Tepper Sports hasn’t commented on the project since its March statement, where it revealed it had already invested more than $170 million in the project. The company has also not agreed to a new financing program proposed by York County.

“My best guess is they’re not saying anything because they’re working on the legal part,” Roddey said. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is more confident, commenting “we certainly think everything will be ironed out soon.”

Tom Brady has a new teammate: ESPN.

The Disney-owned sports media giant is launching its first NFTs with Autograph, the Web3 venture co-founded by Brady. The two companies announced a multiyear deal on Wednesday.

The first release will be a set of NFTs based on the Brady-focused docuseries “Man in the Arena,” which initially came out on ESPN+ and is now available on Disney+ and Hulu as well.

The NFTs will range from $100 to $500.

• Religion of Sports, Brady’s production company, produced “Man in the Arena” and collaborated with Autograph on the NFT design.
• A second collection titled “Back in the Arena” will drop along with the series’ 10th episode.
• The NFTs are being sold through DraftKings Marketplace, which inked a long-term partnership with Autograph in July 2021.

High-Value Autograph

In January, Autograph announced it raised $170 million in a Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins. The company brought in $35 million in its Series A in July 2021.

The company has targeted high-profile athletes such as Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, Tiger Woods, and Derek Jeter.

Religion of Sports is looking to raise $50 million at a $100 million valuation.

Virginia reported a total sports betting handle of $402 million in February, a 51.2% increase from the $266 million the state saw wagered during the same period last year.

Bettors in the state pocketed $374 million in February, down from the $446 million bettors won the month prior, partly due to an abundance of wagers placed on Super Bowl LVI, which was played on Feb. 13. 

Virginians shelled out roughly $33 million on the Los Angeles Rams’ 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

• In January, Virginia reported a total handle of $486 million, while revenue reached $39 million.
• Despite the drop, year-to-year comparisons are deemed better indicators of market maturity due to the sports calendar. 

Virginia legalized online sports betting in January 2021 and has since posted a total handle of $4.1 billion, generating $352 million in revenue. Tax revenue has reached $25 million.

The state has benefited from a regulation in Washington, D.C., that only permits mobile sport bets to be placed within two blocks of Capital One Arena and Nationals Park, respectively.

Virginia has placed a 15% tax on sports betting activity, which is based on each gambling operators’ adjusted gross revenue. In February, monthly tax revenue reached $1.4 million. To date, Virginia has generated roughly $23.6 million in tax revenue.

Record Breakers

New York, which permitted mobile sportsbooks to launch on Jan. 8, reported a total handle of more than $1.6 billion in its first month of legal sports betting — the single-month record for any state. The total included six sportsbooks, which posted $113 million in revenue in January.