Charlotte wants to host more USC-UNC football matchups

While they continue to sell tickets for this year's North Carolina-South Carolina matchup, Charlotte sports leaders hope to schedule a future game in the Queen City between the border-state schools.

The Gamecocks and Tar Heels will open the season Sept. 3 at Bank of America Stadium in a Thursday evening game televised by ESPN.

Charlotte Sports Foundation founder Will Webb said he's had discussion with the schools about additional games, including a potential matchup in 2019.

UNC and South Carolina opened the 2013 season with a Thursday night game in Columbia, which the Gamecocks won 27-10. The Gamecocks beat East Carolina 56-37 in Charlotte in their season opener in 2011.

Atlanta hosts a similar game called the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. UNC will meet Georgia in the 2016 Chick-fil-A opener at the Georgia Dome.

USC athletics director Ray Tanner said the school has had talks about playing in future Chick-fil-A Kickoff games.

The years USC plays Clemson at home gives them an opportunity to have a neutral site game, Tanner said.

Webb's group is leading Charlotte's bid to host the college national championship in 2019 and 2020. Charlotte is among nine cities under consideration, a group that includes two other Southeast cities that are either building a new stadium (Atlanta) or have a major renovation planned (Miami).

Organizers are calling the North Carolina-South Carolina matchup the Belk College Kickoff Game, and Webb would like to make it an annual event.

"But we'll skip a year if we can't get a good matchup," Webb said.

West Virginia and Tennessee will play in Charlotte on Sept. 1, 2018, in the first meeting between the schools.

Webb said organizers get the stadium rent-free for the kickoff games and annual Belk Bowl as part of the agreement between the Carolina Panthers and the city, which agreed in 2013 to give the team $75 million for stadium renovations.