COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Senate has agreed to provide $120 million in tax breaks to the Carolina Panthers to move their practice fields and team headquarters out of North Carolina.

• The 27-15 vote Thursday came after contentious debate
• Several senators questioned whether public money should be given to a billionaire NFL owner
• The team will continue to play games 15 miles north in Charlotte

The 27-15 vote Thursday came after contentious debate with several senators questioning whether public money should be given to a billionaire NFL owner and the $3.8 billion proposed economic benefit of the new facility is wildly exaggerated.

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The bill, enthusiastically backed by Gov. Henry McMaster, would exempt the Panthers from paying state income taxes for players, coaches and other employees for 15 years as long as they use the money to build their new complex near Rock Hill.

Experts like Erik Spanberg say this is a giant win. 

“The argument from the supporters is basically this: you get an NFL team, you get the national media coverage that comes with the practices and the prep for the games and you get some benefit. We don’t know what that benefit is," he said.

"This vote sends a resounding message to the world that South Carolina is committed to creating the most competitive business environment in the world so that South Carolinians can benefit from jobs created by great organizations like the @Panthers. #SCStrong #KeepPounding," the governor tweeted.

Spanberg believes a lack of investment from Raleigh during the last stadium renovation may have pushed the new Panthers leadership to think outside of the box.

"They knew SC tends to be very aggressive and very ambitious when it comes to any kind of corporate relocation in recruiting. We’ve seen that with Boeing and BMW and plenty of other companies and so I think with that in mind they naturally moved towards SC and turns out they got a deal,” he said.

While it may seem like a loss for Charlotte, Spanberg also says they may be focusing on something else for the team, maybe a new or renovated stadium.

"We all know that Bank of America Stadium is 23 years old. At minimum it's going to need extensive renovations or it's going to need to be replaced. We just don't know how soon," he said. "South Carolina, you want to take the lead on this, that's fine. North Carolina, let's focus on the stadium."

The Associated Press contributed to this story