It was in the last quarter of 1993 that the Carolina Panthers received an expansion franchise from the NFL. Thousands of people literally celebrated with this good news. Entrepreneur Jerry Richardson, the person who spearheaded Carolina’s bid, proclaimed that the award was a dream come true. The dream began in 1987 when Richardson met with other stakeholders to discuss the feasibility of entering a multi-city competition for two NFL expansion franchises.
Everything became official in December of the same year. After a year of tedious planning, Hall of Fame Mike McCormack was hired as a consultant for the expansion effort. Selecting the stadium site was the first thing to do and the site in Uptown Charlotte was chosen. Due to the enormous efforts put into the Carolina franchise bid, much support was received from then-US Senators Jesse Helms and Ernest Hollings, as well as Governors Carroll Cambell and Jim Martin. The fans also did their part by showing their support in the exhibition matches played in 1990 and 1991 respectively.
However, problems arose in 1992 regarding the current employment status of the NFL and the expansion vote was delayed until the fall of 1993. However, it served as big news that in January of the same year, the league and its players they reached seven points. annual collective agreement. And during the month of March the expansion race was resumed.
In June of the same year, Richardson Sports revealed that it was willing to finance a 72,300-seat stadium. In early July, all the club seats and luxury boxes were sold out. In October 1993, the NFL owners selected the Carolina Panthers as the NFL’s 29th franchise and the first expansion team since 1976.
The Panthers played their inaugural game during the annual AFC-NFC Hall of Fame in Ohio against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Both teams benefited from the exposure and proved ready to compete in the NFL. Since then, the Panthers have continually improved and entered the NFC championship game in their second season.
In 2003, the Panthers won the NFC championship to earn a spot in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Currently, the Panthers have high hopes of knocking out Falcon’s hopes for the division title. They have conditioned their minds on how much Atlanta wants to win the game against them so that they can take the right strategy in what can be called the biggest upset of the year.
The Panthers are looking to clinch the NFC division title, as any other team would, but they have a great chance to do so because of the team they are. Both defense and offense must be improved to ensure that they win subsequent games. The Panthers are outstanding players with a great coach, they just need to sync up and catch up with each other in order to play a better game on the field. Well, let’s wait and see how things go for the Carolina Panthers.