Our Fanbase Sucks

[GRWatcher]

I'm a transplant. Most of you weren't born when I moved south. I still love my original team. But I always, always pull for the Panthers. No exceptions, no doubts. Once a player becomes a Panther, I fully support him, well, until he really screws up and probably shouldn't even be playing football.

IMO the problem at Bank of America stadium is from the area's history, which is college ball. The alumni (in general, not pointing anyone out) typically sit quietly and let the students rock & cheer until the game becomes so exciting that they get interested. Football & basketball. They are there to be seen. In a crowd of over 70,000 where the price of a seat is outside a college student's budget, there are less "students" and more "alumni". Why do I feel this way? Because when our offense is on the field, BoA actually at times will get louder instead of being as quiet as possible. Only happens consistently in college ball. Shouldn't happen at all at BoA stadium.

So it's more than just a generational thing. Those growing up in a family with the "alumni" mindset have to realize that an NFL game is not a college game and the fan "rules" are different. Many loud fans don't even come close to knowing what to do except being loud when our defense lines up. And that's really only part of it.

[carolina-chuck]

I have to respectfully disagree. I have been to 11 NFL stadiums and BoA has the most subdued, laid back fan base I have ever seen. Hell, I went to the Game at Lucas Oil Stadium last season and at the time they were still winless, but their fans were still making lots of noise. I was at the game last year at BoA and even though the Panthers had a nice half-time lead(23-7 I believe) you couldn't tell by the fans that they were beating a rival team that has pretty much owned them. When the Panthers did something well it was like half the stadium was annoyed by the other half of their fan-base cheering.

If you want to see passionate fans try going to an away game at one of these stadiums Arrowhead Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, Heinz Field, QuallCom Stadium, McAfee Coliseum or Quest Field. You won't find any Cheese and Wine fans outside of the luxury boxes that is.

Agree.

[carolina-chuck]

Please change teams Chuck, please! I'm so sick of seeing your crappy posts dude.

If there's any reason our fan base sucks it's because of numb nuts like you.

F U

[carolina-chuck]

You can pretty much kiss any hope you had of having respect on here, goodbye.

I dnt need any respects from some random

annoynous person on a forum.

[carolina-chuck]

you know what sucks? carolina chuck's posts

F u

[carolina-chuck]

Yeeeeeeah okay O.o

In terms of "knowledge", yes I'd agree, but in terms of rowdiness and support... nowhere near where we should be...

Agree. All I want is for our fan to help support our own teams.

[Cj72]

Good grief!!! Here I was thinking I only make useless posts......at least I dont make threads!!!!!!

[carolina-chuck]

My bad if I offended any people by my post. And for the 'genius' in here that think they're always right, I dnt care. Y'all are probably the ones that are laid back at the games.

I posted this topic up bc I seen how rowdy college students that just graduated were. I know its some tough time through school for them and accomplishing their degree can excites them a lot, but I was wondering if our fans were just as loud as those 400-500 students that graduated. How much tougher it would be for opponents to come and play here. We have 60000+ people at a game and I promise we cannot compete with 400 college students that just graduated. That's just sad.

Y'all can whined and ***** all y'all want about me, but Atleast Im trying to help find ways for our crowds to get in the games. And not just being laid back at home games. I care about this team more than some of y'all others do.

[Gin and Juice]

Drunk white boy? I want a non racist cheerleader next time :huh:

[xerxes]

As with many things, how you frame this issue can dictate the response.

Instead of:

Our Fanbase Sucks

Try:

I Wish Our Fans Were Louder or How to Improve Our Home Field Advantage

As others have pointed out, there are numerous factors why the Panthers don't have a loud stadium.

1. Still a Young Franchise

There aren't a lot of life long Panther fans yet. It's easier to be a die-hard when you've been rooting for them literally since birth.

2. Crowd Demographics

Jerry Richardson made a philosophical choice to not pursue city funding for the Stadium, and instead relied on PSLs, which in turn required significant corporate contributions meaning that many tickets are sold to people who aren't exactly rah-rah football fans i.e. the wine and cheese crowd.

3. Lack of a Winning Tradition

The Panthers have never had back to back winning seasons. That makes it hard to convert fair weather fans into something more serious.

4. Management Hasn't Tried to Cultivate It

Richardson wants a family friendly atmosphere, which can run at odds with the notion of creating a hostile environment for opposing fans.

Put a few winning seasons together, and you'll see a more energetic stadium, but unless there is a demographic shift in who goes to the games, and/or Richardson decides he wants it to be more intense, it won't change too much.

In short, there are a lot of factors that go into this besides our fanbase "sucking", and at least some of those factors are unlikely to change.

[Ivan The Awesome]

Im kinda glad I took most f the day off. These threads are brutal.

[KendrickPanther]

The reason so many fans from other teams travel to BofA is because on average we are more polite and civil. I've seen people on here suggest we need to abuse the other teams fans to take back our house. That's not who I am, I like feeling safe at a game. The lower bowl is full of people that are well off and could afford the $20k PSL or whatever it may have been in 95'. These people have careers and family and are not risking their reputation to get drunk and curse at someone.

In 2008 I dropped $200 on a single seat for the Cardinals game. I tried to get several seats in the nose bleeds but they sold out in 5 minutes. When the Panthers drove down and scored on the opening drive the building was electric. I would put the environment up against any in the league. 6 turnovers later the stands were empty in the 4th quarter. Who is to blame? The team or the fans? I blame the team. Pittsburgh fans are so gd rowdy because they have won 6 super bowls. The colts are coming off what? 12 straight winning seasons? The best way to win over the fans is to.......win!

[KendrickPanther]

The only fan that can truly say they grew up a Panther fan is 17 or younger. When these kids take over their parents seats, we should start to se see a shift in the enthusiasm level. Eventually, when they start bringing their own kids we should be at optimum levels. Both fan wise, and vocally.

What does it say when you are willing to put aside the fact that it is Mother's Day, and act in a way that very well could embarass your mother? Nevermind.....

I'm 26, I started watching the Panthers when I was 10 and I'm loud as hell. Everyone is diff. You just need to go to the game and feel like you are a part of it. You are not there just to watch, but to be involved in the outcome. I'd say anyone under 30 that calls themselves a Panther fan should be pretty intense. It's the over 40s that piss me off at the stadium.

[lightsout]

You know, I was beginning to worry that we lost our touch. Then, the obligatory "our fans suck" thread was created just in the nick of time. Thank you, sir.

Has there already been a stadium music thread? If not, that's the next on the docket. Let's get to work, people!