Before David Tepper, Michael Jordan, George Shinn and Jerry Richardson, before the big money came in and the local football stadium looked like a modern Roman Colosseum, there was a pro sports owner in Charlotte whose name you’ve most likely never heard.
Let’s change that today, because Bob Benson was a Charlotte sports pioneer who shouldn’t be forgotten. Benson died Jan. 20 in Charlotte following health complications brought on by a fall, at age 83.
Back in the early and mid-1980s, where the Charlotte pro sports scene mostly meant NASCAR, minor-league baseball and what most people referred to as “rasslin’,” Benson was the innovative owner of the Carolina Lightnin’ pro soccer team and then the Charlotte Heat, a pro tennis team that competed in World TeamTennis.