The Charlotte Observer welcomes your comments on news of the day. The more voices engaged in convers

Diedra airline ticket auction Laird - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com Georgia Tech players, from left, Tyler Merriweather and Antonio Simmons take cellphone photos during a team tour of Bank of America Stadium Friday afternoon. Bank of America Stadium will host Saturday's ACC football championship game.
Diedra Laird - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com The Louisville Cardinal mascot airline ticket auction and the NC State Wolfpack mascot help direct the Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church handbell choir at Thursday's annual "Lights on the Square" tree lighting in uptown Charlotte. Charlotte Center City Partners hosted the annual tree lighting in Uptown Charlotte this Thursday, Dec. 4. Festivities began at 5:30pm with holiday performances and ACC Mascots, plus the arrival of Santa just in time to light the tree by 6:30pm. Event highlights will include: Charlotte Ballet performing excerpts from the Nutcracker Every ACC football mascots Leonard Bearstein orchestra Santa photos in the Booth Playhouse lobby BMW 6-Series Gran Coupe and X5s on display by Hendrick BMW Charlotte and Northlake Salvation Army Magical Toy Drive at Hendrix Business Systems (main level Founders Hall) Goodies from Cloud 9 Bakery and hot beverages from Dunx
Some of those tickets were given away: As in years past, the ACC offered Carolina Panthers permanent seat license holders a number of free tickets. A Panthers representative declined to say how many tickets the team s PSL holders received.
Smith said championship and bowl games can be unpredictable because it s not always clear who will play in the game far in advance. With Florida airline ticket auction State enjoying its second straight undefeated season, Seminoles fans have known for several airline ticket auction weeks the team would be in Saturday s game. But Georgia Tech fans found out just two weeks ago, meaning many have to make a faster decision about whether to travel.
Georgia Tech is likely to be in the Orange Bowl in Miami or another bowl in a few weeks. For Yellow airline ticket auction Jackets fans, that means a game in Charlotte might not be their highest priority although Atlanta media reports this week said Georgia Tech had sold out its 5,500-ticket allotment airline ticket auction for Saturday s game.
The ACC receives $250,000 a year to hold its game in Charlotte, a subsidy paid by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. The CRVA is funded by its own revenues, as well as money from hospitality taxes on hotel and motel rooms, and prepared food and beverages. Mecklenburg County also provides a $250,000 annual subsidy for the game.
The Belk Bowl, to be played Dec. 30, receives free use of Bank of America Stadium as part of a deal worked out between the city and the Panthers in which the team received $87.5 million airline ticket auction in public money to fund stadium renovations. The Belk Bowl matchup, which will feature an SEC team vs. an ACC team, will be announced Sunday. A popular matchup with local fan bases, such as the University of South Carolina vs. N.C. State University, could draw a big crowd. Notre Dame is also a possibility for the Belk Bowl because of the school s football tie-in to the ACC.
Attendance at the ACC Championship game has fluctuated since it moved to Charlotte in 2010. The first two games were sellouts, featuring Florida State vs. Virginia Tech and Clemson vs. Virginia Tech. In 2012, attendance fell off to 48,000 when Georgia Tech played Florida State in the rain. Georgia Tech had a 6-6 record and was only in the game because Miami and North Carolina were on probation and ineligible.
The Charlotte Observer welcomes your comments airline ticket auction on news of the day. The more voices engaged in conversation, the better for us all, but do keep it civil. Please refrain from profanity, obscenity, spam, name-calling or attacking others for their views.
Have a news tip? You can send it to a local news editor; email local@charlotteobserver.com to send us your tip - or - consider joining airline ticket auction the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Charlotte Observer. Read more Read less
The Charlotte region is vast and diverse. The more voices engaged in conversation, the better for us all. The Charlotte Observer welcomes your comments on news of the day, but we ask that you keep the discourse civil.
You can help: Notify us of violations by hitting the "Report Abuse" link. Users who continue posting airline ticket auction comments that violate these guidelines may, at our discretion, be blocked from submitting future comments as well.
The Charlotte Observer welcomes your comments on news of the day. The more voices engaged in conversation, the better for us all, but do keep it civil. Please refrain from profanity, obscenity, spam, name-calling or attacking others for their views.
Have a news tip? You can send it to a local news editor; email local@charlotteobserver.com airline ticket auction to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Charlotte Observer. Read more Read less
The Charlotte region is vast and diverse. The more voices engaged airline ticket auction in conversation, the better for us all. The Charlotte Observer airline ticket auction welcomes your comments on news of the day, but we ask that you keep the discourse civil.
You can help: Notify us of violations by hitting the "Report Abuse" link. Users who continue posting airline ticket auction comments that violate these guidelines may, at our discretion, be blocked from submitting future comments as well.