sport
Eastland Sports Campus Breaks Ground on $67.1M East Charlotte Facility
Construction is underway on a $67.1 million facility, signaling a major shift for amateur athletics in the city.
How we reported this
Construction crews have officially broken ground on the $67.1 million Eastland Sports Campus at the former Eastland Mall site in East Charlotte. The project, which spans between 29 and 30 acres, represents the latest push to expand athletic infrastructure within the city, according to city officials. The facility is expected to serve as a regional hub for youth and amateur sports, with doors slated to open in late 2028.
Facility Scope and Economic Impact
The campus is designed to handle significant volume, featuring a 100,000-square-foot indoor center as its core. The indoor facility will house 10 basketball courts, which are engineered to be convertible for volleyball and cheerleading programs. Outside, the site will support six soccer and lacrosse fields, with operations managed by the Charlotte Soccer Academy. These details follow the Charlotte City Council's May 2026 approval of 50-year master leases for the complex, a critical step for the project's long-term sustainability.
City projections place the anticipated economic impact at approximately $169 million annually. Beyond the games themselves, the project aims to stimulate the local labor market, with officials forecasting the creation of more than 500 new jobs upon completion. This follows a period of heavy investment in the city's sports portfolio, including the $150 million Novant Health Performance Center uptown, which broke ground in March 2025 to serve as the Charlotte Hornets' new training home.
The Broader Sports Landscape
While the Eastland project focuses on the future, the city's existing venues continue to draw national recognition. The Spectrum Center, the home arena for the Charlotte Hornets, was named a finalist for the 2026 Sports Facility of the Year award by the Sports Business Journal. This recognition comes on the heels of an extensive $245 million renovation of the uptown arena, which officially reopened in October 2025.
As construction progresses at the Eastland site over the next two years, the city’s high school athletics remain under the governance of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. For student-athletes in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, the upcoming season will see the introduction of new programs, including girls' flag football starting in the fall of 2026. For those involved in the local youth sports circuit, the development at Eastland will eventually provide a permanent venue for tournaments and training as the 2028 opening date approaches.