First Generation Panthers fans

[hepcat]

Reading the comments about fair-weather fans and other issues with support for the Panthers, I was struck with a realization - I consider myself to be a first generation Panthers fan. My reason being, I was young enough when the Panthers became a team to not have had any other allegiances. No offense to you if you broke ties to your former favorite team to become a Panthers fan, because that's what you've gotta do when an expansion team is born.

Does this affect our fanbase? The Panthers might be the local team, but supporters who were already adults when the Panthers became a team make up msot of the PSL owners, and probably had a different favorite team before the Panthers became a team. Why is the stadium empty after the Panthers fall behind by 10?

For a young team that hasn't even hit 20 years yet, the number of "first generation" fans might not be very high. Especially outside the Carolinas.

Other teams that have been around longer have more nation-wide fan bases because people who were a fans early in their youth, moved away later in life and still represent their team (as we can see at almost every Panthers home game). The Panthers haven't been around for long enough to have this luxury, but the number must be growing. I look at teams in our division, generally the newer teams in the game that struggled for years before finding any degree of success, that have broken 30 years of existance but still have a fanbase that won't finish watching the game if the team is getting thoroughly beat. So is time the only measure of a fanbase? Could this have more to do with the size of the market than with the performance of the team? The Saints could NEVER fill the Superdome until Drew Brees came to town, so much that they painted the chairs different colors so it'd look like more people were there! The Bucs were blacked out THIS SEASON because they couldn't sell out their first game!

All in all, as part of the first generation of Panthers fans, I will likely be a fan even if my journey takes me to places outside the Carolinas, where I will continue to represent our team. I hope that our fanbase grows into a rabidly supportive bunch that rivals the tenacity of the most storied franchises in the NFL. But as I have pointed out, it seems success does more for a fanbase than time...so we might have a long road ahead.

[Squirrel]

I'm offended. You are Second Generation fan first generation is always the ones that have to cut ties with their former ties.

But to your thoughts. I agree with the thoughts on the fans. But I would also add that alot of the first generation fans was never true team fans before the Panthers. Sure they might have followed a team but it was tv and if the team sucked they just turned off the tv. Now that they have PSL's they still act like its tv but will leave the game now. I've done it myself before team plays terrible its raining and you are miserable also I had a 1 1/2 drive after the game and would leave if it got more than 14 points down. Do I think it will change with the next generation nope. People leave games at stadiums all the time. Philly fans and Pitt fans are thought be the most loyalist in the league but I have seen their stadium empty before when there teams are losing. So dont think it just because we are a young fanbase.

[Dpantherman]

I was 5 when the Panthers formed. I didn't know what football was before we got the Panthers. My parents however, where Redskins fans.

[YourMomsLover]

Prior to 95, I was an Falcons fan. I was born in 1987 so that would've made me approx 8 years old. I had no problem switching. Besides I only liked Deion Sanders, and Andre Rison. I don't know where I'm trying to go with this but....yea this fanbase is kinda lame IMO

[MHS831]

Charlotte is bascially a town of transplants due to the rapid expansion of the banking industry and the poor economic conditions in other places. Many of these new residents don't consider Charlotte their home--they simply live here. So, they bring with them allegiances to other teams.

This is why FOX is going to lose his job. WHAT? Well, we need a consistent stretch of making the playoffs to build the fan base. Every other year teases the fans. Look at Buffalo. They are stuck in a bad economy, wedged between 2 NY teams and the Patriots, have an outdoor stadium and some harsh weather. They have a loyal fan base. Even though the NY and NE teams have won super bowls in their back yard while Buffalo lost 4 Super Bowls 20 years ago or so, they had a run that allowed roots to develop. Do you think yesterday's 70 degree mist storm would have kept their fans home? Carolina's fan base is more about the wallet than the heart, at least regarding those with PSLs. When we have a lasting love affair with the team when winning for 3-4 seasons in a row, the one-night-stand complex will end.

[Seal (SmittyIsOurSavior)]

My dad is from England and my mom from New England, so she was a hockey fan, so I had no previous ties. The first game I ever watched was the Super Bowl, and because they were the home team, I cheered for them. I was hooked ever since.

[CatfanMO]

I was in 12 living in Missouri. I got the Starter Carolina Panthers coat before they even entered the league..Yeah, im that cool. I still live in missouri and have never touched my foot in the Carolinas, but still a fan. I was going to the Rams game this year, but honestly I think the rams will win and Im not interested in my first Panthers game being a loss to the Rams.

[boo7382]

I was born in 86, so I was 9 when the Panthers started. Things were going on for a while before that with deciding everything with the team and all. My family weren't big NFL fans so the Panthers got me into football.

I think you are right though hepcat. We are the first generation which are coming up as Panthers fans. Which means that our children will be the children who are born into the fanbase and raised as Panthers fans and raised BY people who have been life-long (or almost) Panthers fans. I feel excited knowing that I can raise my child to love the Panthers.

That is a big reason why we have so many fairweather fans. Yeah, its a transplant city and very rarely do you find natives like myself but, look at a franchise like the Steelers or Cowboys (fn cowboys fans). They have fans raising their children as fans who were raised as fans and grandparents, etc. Basically takes something like that to have the sort of dedication like that to a team. We just need to hold strong and hopefully try to develop this city into a die hard Panthers fanbase.

I liked what I saw at the tailgate yesterday. Dedicated fans, young children who are fans. I liked it

[Highlandfire]

I have been a Bills fan for years. I became a Panthers fan for two reasons. One it gave me an opportunity to say I was a fan of a team from its 'birth'. Secondly with Bill Polian, Frank Reich, Don Beebe, Pete Metz etal It was 'Buffalo South' for me so it was easy to become a fan :-)

[hepcat]

I was born in 86, so I was 9 when the Panthers started. Things were going on for a while before that with deciding everything with the team and all. My family weren't big NFL fans so the Panthers got me into football.

I think you are right though hepcat. We are the first generation which are coming up as Panthers fans. Which means that our children will be the children who are born into the fanbase and raised as Panthers fans and raised BY people who have been life-long (or almost) Panthers fans. I feel excited knowing that I can raise my child to love the Panthers.

That is a big reason why we have so many fairweather fans. Yeah, its a transplant city and very rarely do you find natives like myself but, look at a franchise like the Steelers or Cowboys (fn cowboys fans). They have fans raising their children as fans who were raised as fans and grandparents, etc. Basically takes something like that to have the sort of dedication like that to a team. We just need to hold strong and hopefully try to develop this city into a die hard Panthers fanbase.

I liked what I saw at the tailgate yesterday. Dedicated fans, young children who are fans. I liked it

Those teams you mentioned...Steelers and Cowboys...have won a combined 11 Superbowl championships. A quarter of all Superbowl championships ever won. The 49ers, Patriots, Redskins, Cowboys, Giants, Packers, and Steelers have won 28 Superbowls. There are 32 teams in the league, and not even a quarter of them have won well over half of them.

[Happy Panther]

All in all, as part of the first generation of Panthers fans, I will likely be a fan even if my journey takes me to places outside the Carolinas, where I will continue to represent our team. I hope that our fanbase grows into a rabidly supportive bunch that rivals the tenacity of the most storied franchises in the NFL. But as I have pointed out, it seems success does more for a fanbase than time...so we might have a long road ahead.

Yeah i left for 6 years and foujnd a way to watch every game.

The next step in the fan-base development is when someone can say they are a fan just like their mom and dad always were. my 5 year old and 3 year old have jerseys and will wit and watch an entire game when they are on the road. The 5 year old will have his first game maybe this year

[The Saltman]

When I was Born I had a Panther Helmet and Steve Smith Jersey on. This was 1981 u bitches!! (waits for any comment asking how my mother gave birth to a child with a helmet on).

[hepcat]

The point I'm trying to make here is - success brings fans, money, noteriety, no matter how long a team exists. See: Saints, Buccaneers, Falcons (it's funny how historically the WORST teams all got lumped into the same division)

[Squirrel]

When I was Born I had a Panther Helmet and Steve Smith Jersey on. This was 1981 u bitches!! (waits for any comment asking how my mother gave birth to a child with a helmet on).

You lie! You didnt have a mother.