Charlotte Bobcats Arena hosted 50,000 people during its Grand Opening Weekend which included The Rolling Stones concert and two free public Bobcats Open House events, and judging by fan reaction at the weekend's events, Charlotte Bobcats Arena Chief Operating Officer Barry Silberman got his wish.

At media day for Charlotte Bobcats arena on Thursday, Silberman was asked how he hoped fans would respond when they walked into the new arena.

"I'm hoping to see that people's jaws will drop, their eyes will open up wide and I'll hear oohs and ahhs out of people's mouths," he said. "I've always tried to approach this as what can we do to create the biggest wow effect for our fans. It gets a wow from me, and I'm hoping it gets a wow from the public, too."

So how did some of the fans who attended the Bobcats Open House react?

Nathan Davis of Ansonville, North Carolina, took the words right out of Silberman's mouth following his tour.

"Oh wow, man, it's a state-of-the art arena," the 27-year-old said. "I was overwhelmed at how much work was put into this. I was amazed at how unique this arena is compared to other arenas I've been to in the past. There are so many incredible things about this place, it just takes your breath away."

So, with so many things to see on self-guided tours, what things really caught the fans' eyes at the open house?

"The thing that impressed me most was the scoreboard. It was just fantastic," Phyllis Martin, a 48-year-old mother from Charlotte who brought her 11-year-old son, Ken, to the open house, said. "This place exceeded every expectation I could have had about it. It's so open, and it seems like every seat will have a great view."

Her young son, who has been a Bobcats fan since last year, liked what he saw even before he went in.

"I thought it was a whole lot better than the one last year (the Charlotte Coliseum)," he said. "I liked the way the outside looked and thought the inside was even cooler."

At 66 and 69 years old, respectively, Catherine and Don Peeler of Charlotte have admittedly seen their fair share of arenas across the country and felt as if Charlotte Bobcats Arena came through on everything it promised.

"We've been to a lot of different ones, and this one here is as good as I expected," Don Peeler said.

Arena guests received a first-hand-look at the building through self-guided tours and were able to experience the state-of-the-art scoreboard, enjoy food offerings, and purchase tickets.

"This is a great weekend for the City of Charlotte," said Ed Tapscott, Charlotte Bobcats president and chief operating officer. "50,000 people were able to come out and enjoy the new home of sports, music and entertainment in the Carolinas."

More than 30,000 people attended the free open house events that featured live entertainment and behind the scenes tours of the locker rooms, and purchased Bobcats single game tickets as well as weekend, half and full-season-ticket plans for the upcoming season. Open house guests registered to win an arena season pass – two tickets to every event in the arena for a year. The winner of the arena season pass will be announced at Noon Monday on BobcatsBasketball.com.