Are the Panthers of Charlotte turning their backs on South Carolina?

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Several years before my employment began with SC Biz News, I sometimes freelanced for this organization, squeezing in most interviews by telephone after the workday ended at my regular job.

I took a vacation day, though, when tasked to interview Mark Richardson, then the president of the Carolina Panthers. I crossed the Carolina-Carolina border into Charlotte to conduct the interview at the team offices at Bank of America Stadium, which, incidentally, from the inside seem like any other offices in the country.

Mark Richardson is a son of the team’s founding owner, Jerry Richardson, which meant his behind-the-scenes purview was even deeper behind the scenes than that of many insiders. As a business writer I had little professional interest in draft choices or coaching decisions but did have questions about leadership and strategy. One question that always intrigued me regarded the club name. Why not Charlotte Panthers?

The National Football Leage expanded in the early 1990s, adding the Panthers and Jaguars about a year after Major League Baseball added the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins. Of the four new professional teams, only the one in Jacksonville followed the tradition of including the home city in its name, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

I had assumed the reason for a regional name was to attract a geographically wider fan base. That was right, Mark Richardson told me. But his father’s plan for a Carolina team was more strategic than that. A regional name may attract more fans from across the miles, yes, but his real reason for using “Carolina” was to boost the resume of the Queen City. A lot of cities wanted an expansion team and all of them had to make a case to the NFL that they could fill stadium seats.

So Jerry Richardson drew a big circle around Charlotte on a map — representing how far he thought people would travel for a game —and included that wider population is selling Charlotte to the NFL. The southern half of that circle is almost entirely in South Carolina. And that territory to the south was special to Jerry Richardson, who attended and played football for Wofford and built a successful fast-food business that included a string of South Carolina addresses.

It’s why Wofford would be home to summer training for the Panthers for the next three decades. It’s why Clemson was home field until the Panthers built a stadium in Charlotte. And it’s why Panther merchandise sells south of the state line. When the Carolina Panthers launched, Charlotte needed South Carolina.

It seems that now, though, the Panthers organization may be less interested in South Carolina than the Palmetto State is in the team. When David Tepper bought the franchise from Richardson in 2018, I think everyone knew camp in Spartanburg was on the chopping block. When plans emerged for headquarters and practice facilities in Rock Hill, it at least looked like South Carolina would benefit, even if training camp was moved out of Spartanburg.

In retrospect that deal seems like it may have been doomed from the start. After construction was well underway and millions were spent developing the site, the team and the city of Rock Hill were at odds over who was paying for what. And although the city said it was willing to keep negotiating, the Panthers pulled out, leaving partially built facilities that heightened the next challenge for real estate professionals trying to sell it. With their exit from Wofford, the Panthers’ significant presence south of the state line is finished.

The Florida Marlins started life in the suburb of Miami Gardens and moved into the city of Miami in 2012. If I remember right, the move was part of a deal that included changing to a new name — the Miami Marlins. They didn’t need the ‘burbs anymore.

Makes you wonder how long before we watch the Charlotte Panthers take the field.

Ross Norton is managing editor-content for SC Biz News. He is, by birth, an Atlanta Falcons fan, but he wants good things for the Panthers.