City: Charlotte, NC

Category: Spectator Sports

Telephone: (704) 522-6500 (tickets)

Address: 800 South Mint St.

Description: On Oct 26, 1993, the Carolina Panthers became the 29th NFL team, the first expansion team in the league since 1976 and the only one to win the bid by total owner acclamation. The Panthers played at Clemson University’s Death Valley their first season, 1995, before taking the proper place in Charlotte the next year in Ericsson Stadium, now called Bank of America Stadium. Nestled on a 33-acre site in Uptown Charlotte, the open-air natural-grass facility was financed through a public-private venture that included the sale of Permanent Seat Licenses. PSLs give buyers the ability to permanently control and purchase season tickets for all Panthers home games. More than 62,500 PSLs were sold before the Panthers ever played their first game.In their first season the Panthers established an NFL mark for the most wins by an expansion team, finishing 7–9. The team improved dramatically in their first season in Charlotte, winning the NFC West in 1996. In the franchise’s first-ever playoff game, the Panthers defeated the Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys 26–17 at home and advanced to the NFC Championship Game before losing to Green Bay.The Panthers had some up and down years after that, including a woeful 1–15 in 2001, but current coach John Fox came to Carolina in 2002 and turned the team into a Super Bowl contender. Fox believes in an aggressive defense; a conservative, run-oriented offense; and avoiding turnovers. In the 2003 season that took the Panthers to the Super Bowl, the Panthers dropped a 32–29 heartbreaker to the New England Patriots.Since then the Panthers have stayed the course with Fox and developed one of the NFL’s most potent rushing attacks by drafting Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. In 2009, Carolina became the first team in NFL history to have two backs rush for more than 1,100 yards. Kicker John Kasay has been a constant over the years, and is the only player from the original 1995 squad who is still on the roster.Game days in Charlotte are a special event. Tailgating takes place at numerous locations across Uptown and along Morehead Street, starting early in the morning for Sunday games. Fans are loud, but for the most part respectful, and the club has a long-standing policy of not allowing fans to take off their shirts. Concessions are pricey and it takes a lot longer to enter the stadium nowadays because of elevated terrorism-related security measures.A limited number of single-game tickets are sold each season to the Panthers’ eight home games, and two home preseason games. Carolina’s average ticket price of $63.32 is among the lowest in the NFL. Tickets are available online at www.panthers.com, via charge-by-phone at (704) 522-6500, or at the Bank of America Stadium box office on the southeast side of the stadium. Box office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays.