Charlotte’s pre-season push is taking place beyond the arena: the Hornets’ “The Pull-Up” brings fan-facing appearances to partner venues across North and South Carolina. Hugo the Hornet began the run Uptown, handing out gift cards at the team’s fan shop.
WSOC-TV reported that Hugo greeted fans and handed out gift cards at the fan shop on October 1, the tour’s first stop. The station described a schedule that includes restaurants, breweries, retail locations, cultural festivals and other partner sites in both states, according to WSOC-TV.
The schedule also includes appearances by team personalities and former players, as well as player interactions at some stops, the station reported. The events range from local venues to larger public gatherings.
From Oktoberfest to Purple and Teal Day
The early-October schedule mixes cultural events with a brewery stop: HOLA Charlotte and an Oktoberfest celebration at Gilde Brewery are both set for October 3. Purple and Teal Day follows at Spectrum Center on October 10, bringing the team’s colors into the countdown.
The tour also has two state-fair appearances: the North Carolina State Fair on October 16 and the South Carolina State Fair on October 18. Those dates take the schedule beyond Charlotte and across the state line.
Community work and fair attendance
An earlier example of the franchise’s community work—not a current inventory of year-round programs—was its Book Bus, announced on April 16, 2013, and unveiled at Albemarle Road Elementary School. The literacy project was distinct from the current fan-focused tour, according to the Charlotte Hornets’ official website. The North Carolina State Fair’s 2023 Fairgoer Insights report counted 926,425 fairgoers. That is total attendance for the fair, not an estimate for the Hornets’ planned appearance; the verified information here does not provide a comparable attendance figure for the South Carolina State Fair, according to the N.C. State Fair.
Countdown to the Home Opener
The final scheduled stop before the home opener is an October 21 watch party at Clutch Pourhouse for the Hornets’ matchup against the Brooklyn Nets. Charlotte’s first home game follows on October 23, when the team hosts the Atlanta Hawks at Spectrum Center.
For fans who can't make it to every pop-up or the arena itself, the games will still be easy to find. WSOC Channel 9 and TV64 will broadcast every Hornets game that isn't nationally televised this season, giving Charlotte and the Carolinas a steady stream of basketball even after the Pull-Up wraps.
