Carolina Panthers Information

Carolina Panthers … An Exiting Team To Watch

In October of 1993, a unanimous decision by the NFL granted the Carolinas their own professional football team, the Carolina Panthers. They were the first franchise created since 1976, making them the 29th franchise to join the league. The franchise was granted in large part because of the efforts of the potential owners as well as politicians, business people, and fans from both North and South Carolina.

First day sales of permanent seat licenses amounted to more than 41,000 with all of the box seats and luxury suites being reserved and ultimately purchased or leased. The Carolina Panthers stadium was financed entirely by sales, costing the taxpayers nothing.

After searching several sites, one of which would have put the fifty yard line of the field right on the border between the two states, Charlotte, North Carolina was chosen as the future site of the 73,504 seat stadium. The stadium was first known as Panthers Stadium, but later became known as Ericsson Stadium when the company bought the naming rights for a ten year period.

In 2004, the stadium was renamed once again and is now known as the Bank of America Stadium. The new name has prompted several nicknames among fans including “the Vault” and “the Bank.”

The Carolina Panthers spent their mildly successful inaugural season playing at Clemson University while waiting for their stadium to be finished. They became only the second expansion team to win their first game, beating fellow newcomers the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Hall of Fame Game that year. They also set records for becoming the first expansion team ever to win four consecutive games in their inaugural season and became the first expansion team to beat the reigning Super Bowl champions in their first year. The inaugural season was finished with seven wins and nine losses. This was more than double the previous record for an expansion team’s first year.

The next several seasons saw the Panthers with both wins and losses. They made it to the playoffs in 1996, but didn’t perform as well in 1997, and finished the season with a 4-12 record in 1998. A new head coach saw slightly more success in 1999; however, they did not make it to the playoffs again until their third head coach took them all the way to the Super Bowl in 2003.

The game went down in history as the highest scoring fourth quarter in Super Bowl history, with the lead changing between the Panthers and the Patriots several times. Unfortunately for Carolina, the Patriots managed to pull off a field goal with only four seconds left in the game.

That season saw quite a bit of action for the Carolina Panthers, with seven games won in the last two minutes of the game or in overtime. As a result, the “Cardiac Cats” became a popular nickname for the team among NFL fans everywhere.

The last several years have seen the Panthers with two more trips to the playoffs although they have not been back to the Super Bowl. The first three games of the 2009 season were losses for the Panthers but, after bouncing back, they seem to be winning as much as they are losing.

Win or lose, the Carolina Panthers put heart into every game. Devoted fans everywhere turn out each week for some fun, football, and some very tense moments. You never know what will happen at a Panthers game