Spectrum Center Sports Fan Tips

Spectrum Center is a venue in or near Charlotte that is most often used for Basketball

Directions to Spectrum Center?

Spectrum Center is located in uptown Charlotte and is close to restaurants and hotels which is nice if you are coming into town. The stadium isn't in the best part of town but overall its still in a good place.

Stores to hit up at Spectrum Center?

The Hornet's store is just your average team store and sells your regular jerseys, t-shirts, hats, basketballs, and hornet paraphernalia.

Best food and drink at Spectrum Center?

The Arena has everything you could ever want for food with sweets such as cinnamon pretzels, ice cream, and then pizza from Papa Johns, Bojangles, hot dogs, Mushroom and Swiss burgers, McCalister's Deli, Carolina BBQ and so on.

Spectrum Center seating?

The stadium is very nice and has a great scoreboard and video board to watch replays or to watch the game in case you are in the upper deck. The stadium is rarely filled so you can definitely pay for upper level seats and move down after the first quarter.

Things to check out around Spectrum Center?

There is a bunch of different BBQ places to eat. There is a popular bowling alley pretty close as well as movie theaters and shopping. There are also a bunch of good golf courses around.

Best bars near Spectrum Center?

Hyatt Hotel bar is extremely close and sometimes gets players from the opposing team there after games. Whisky River is another possible place to go and it stays open late.

Safety at Spectrum Center?

The stadium isn't in the best part of Charlotte and a lot of the surrounding areas are dark and have roads that many cars don't go on but I have never felt unsafe but I would suggest walking in groups.

Best restaurants near Spectrum Center?

There is a Burger King, a family owned Chinese restaurant, a pub called Fitzgerald's that offers classic bar food and a bunch of local steakhouses.

Traffic around Spectrum Center?

The traffic around the stadium is non existent because there aren't many people going to the games over the last few years.

Spectrum Center parking?

There is plenty of parking around the stadium and you can expect to pay around $10-$20 depending on how close you get. If you are late to the game you can get a discount too.

What to expect from the Spectrum Center crowd?

The crowd is non existent and there aren't enough fans there to make it loud. It is very passive and more business oriented rather than true fans who love basketball. Many people leave after the third quarter too.

Best insider tip for Spectrum Center?

The stadium houses jerseys of every high school state champion from both North & South Carolina. They leave them on display for one year until time to be replaced by the jerseys from each respective state's new champions of each classification level. This is something very cool to see if you get to the stadium early.

Best giveaways at Spectrum Center?

The Hornets give out t-shirts, hats, mini basketballs, coupons for local merchandise and restaurants.

Artifacts to look for at Spectrum Center?

The Arena has many things to look at. The best feature is the huge mural on the inside of the stadium where all the pieces relate to something of significance for the Charlotte region, the Carolinas, or basketball. One piece that can't be missed is the 2,200 sq. ft mural of basketball history in the Carolinas located along the large wall in the grand foyer entry area. There are also jerseys from all the state championship teams which is cool to look at.

Dealing with scalpers at Spectrum Center?

The scalpers are very friendly and you should be able to score pretty good tickets here because the stadium is only half filled on most games.