History Of The Team
The Carolina panthers represent North Carolina and South Carolina in the NFL (National Football League). They are an American football team based in charlotte, North Carolina. The Carolina panthers are currently a member of the south division of NFC (National Football Conference) in the NFL. In 1995, the panthers and the Jacksonville jaguars joined NFL as expansion teams. The Carolina panthers have compiled a record of 115-119 and appeared in the super bowl in Houston Texas.
The history of the Carolinas is a remarkable story. They underwent through difficult situations and trials just to get a franchise in the NFL. The story began in 1987, after it was decided that Charlotte would receive an expansion in the NBA (National Basketball Association) franchise, and then former Baltimore Colts player Jerry Richardson met a group of potential bakers to discuss of bringing an expansion of Carolina in the NFL since he knew that Carolinas has a potential in that certain sport. Richardson Sports decided to build a stadium in the uptown section of charlotte that would accommodate over 70,000 fans.
Richardson's announcement created an impact in the region, as the businessman, politicians, and local citizens of all joined together to show that a team in Carolina can be supported in the NFL. Even US senators Ernest Holdings of South Carolina and Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina put aside their partisan differences to encourage NFL owners to support the expansion. Everyone in North and South Carolina were united in supporting the stadium.
In 1992, the NFL announced the list of five areas, which had a potential as NFL teams: Jacksonville, Florida; Baltimore, Maryland; St. Louis, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee and the Carolinas, represented by charlotte. But it was not decided yet because of a dispute between the league and the players, the race began again in 1993. In June of the same year, the Richardson sports said that they would finance the whole stadium through the sales of luxury boxes, club seats and permanent seat licenses. Because of the support of the fans, all seats were sold out and Richardson spoke directly to the public, giving thanks to the people who supported and purchased the PSLs to help build the stadium without burden to the taxpayers.
The team was no longer a question, but it was still for the league to decide whether they would give the franchise to the Carolinas or not. On October 26, 1993, the league proclaimed that the owners had voted that for the Carolinas to receive the 29th franchise of the NFL, it was the first NFL team since 1976. The fans throughout the whole region celebrated with fireworks and everyone was glad about the great news.
After a month, it was announced that the 30th team who got the franchise was Jacksonville. Even though Baltimore and St. Louis lost out their bids on the expansion, they eventually acquired a new team: the Lost Angeles Rams who moved to St. Louis in 1995. And in 1996, the Baltimore Ravens were declared by the NFL league as a new expansion team.