Panthers

Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte seats around 75,000. The Panthers have reached the Super Bowl twice: 32-29 to the New England Patriots after the 2003 season, then 24-10 to the Denver Broncos after 2015.

The 2015 side was built around Cam Newton, who won the NFL's Most Valuable Player award that year. Before him the team's identity belonged to Steve Smith Sr., who still holds the franchise records for receptions and receiving yards. Julius Peppers lined up on the other side of the ball and is now in the Hall of Fame.

The run that came earlier gets mentioned less. In only their second season, 1996, the Panthers played in the NFC Championship game. The 2003 final followed seven years later, and the 2015 one twelve years after that.

Since 2019 the club has been rebuilding under its new owner, David Tepper. The division rivals are close by: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New Orleans Saints and, most pointedly, the Atlanta Falcons. That meeting is known as the I-85 Rivalry, after the interstate that links the two cities.

The franchise did not begin with a stadium or a title. NFL owners awarded it to the Carolinas on 26 October 1993, making it the league's 29th club and its first expansion team since 1976. The founder, Jerry Richardson, gave it the name Panthers, after the wild cat native to the region, and the team played its first season in 1995.