Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They compete in the National Football League, as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference South division. The team is owned by David Tepper, whose purchase of the team from founder Jerry Richardson was unanimously approved by league owners on May 22, 2018. The club is worth approximately US$2.3 billion, according to Forbes.

About Carolina Panthers in brief

Summary Carolina PanthersThe Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League, as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference South division. The team is owned by David Tepper, whose purchase of the team from founder Jerry Richardson was unanimously approved by league owners on May 22, 2018. The club is worth approximately US$2.3 billion, according to Forbes. The Carolina Panthers first competed in the 1995 NFL season; they were one of two expansion teams to begin play that year, the other being the Jacksonville Jaguars. They have reached the playoffs eight times, advancing to four NFC Championship Games and two Super Bowls. They won the NFC South title in 2013, but lost in the divisional round to the San Francisco 49ers in 2013 and the Seattle Seahawks in 2014. In 2002, the Panthers were the NFL’s 32nd expansion team, leading to the most consecutive losses in a single season (15) The team has won six division titles, one in the NFC West and five in the NFC South, and won the Super Bowl XXXVIII title in 2015, but were beaten by the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. It is the only team in NFL history to have won two or more division titles in two consecutive seasons. It has also been the only NFL team to win more than one division title in two different seasons, and the only one to do so in three consecutive years. It was the first team to play its home games in Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte, which also serves as the team’s home field.

It also hosts its annual training camp at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, which is also the home of the Panthers’ training camp. The franchise was founded by Jerry Richardson, a former wide receiver on the Baltimore Colts who later co-found the Hardee’s restaurant chain. Richardson drew his inspiration to pursue an NFL franchise from George Shinn, who had made a successful bid for an expansion National Basketball Association team in Charlotte. In 1991, the group formally filed an application for the open expansion spot, and on October 26, 1993, the 28 NFL owners unanimously named the Carolina Panthers as the 29th member of the NFL. Richardson founded Richardson Sports, a partnership consisting of himself, his family, and a number of businessmen from North and South Carolina were also recruited to be limited partners. In 1995, the team finished its inaugural season 7–9, the best performance ever from a first-year expansion team. They performed even better in their second season, finishing with a 12–4 record and winning NFC West division, as well as securing a first round bye. In 2003, they won NFC Championship Game and reached Super BowlXXXVIII, losing 32–29 to the New England Patriots. In 2004, they beat the defending Super Bowl champions Dallas Cowboys in division round before losing to the Green Bay Packers. In 2005 and 2008, they failed to record another playoff appearance until the first of three consecutive NFC South titles.