Panthers

The National Football League filled out its expansion plans in the autumn of 1993; on 26 October that year owners voted the Panthers in as the twenty-ninth. The team did not take the field until 1995, and even then not at home — Bank of America Stadium was still under construction, so the inaugural season was played at Clemson Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

Nine years in, Carolina reached Super Bowl XXXVIII and lost to the New England Patriots; twelve years after that, Super Bowl 50 ended the same way, against the Denver Broncos. Both runs began with an NFC Championship, and both times the trophy stayed elsewhere — the closest the club has come. Cam Newton's name still tops the franchise passing list from that 2015 season.

Ron Rivera took charge in 2011 and stayed nine seasons, longer than any other head coach in franchise history, and it was under him that the 2015 run to Super Bowl 50 was built. The club has claimed the NFC South six times since the division's creation, most recently in 2025, a title it now defends against the same three neighbours every year.

Of those, it is Atlanta that carries the weight. The Falcons sit just up Interstate 85, the I-85 Rivalry, played twice a season since the Panthers landed in the NFC South alongside New Orleans and Tampa Bay in 2002.