Bank of America Stadium

Lore & Background

The stadium was originally known as Carolinas Stadium, a name which remains in use for certain events such as FIFA matches. It opened on August 3, 1996, as Ericsson Stadium after Swedish telecom company LM Ericsson purchased the naming rights in a ten-year, $25 million agreement. In 2004, the stadium received its current name after Bank of America purchased the naming rights for 20 years. The Panthers organization considered several possible sites for the stadium's location before choosing the Charlotte center city site. Part of the site was occupied by the historic Good Samaritan Hospital. As part of the preparation for the 2019 Equal Justice Initiative Community Remembrance Project, Charlotte historian Michael Moore determined the site was also significant as the location of the city's first known lynching in 1913.

Reader's Guide

Bank of America Stadium has many unique external features. Aspects of the stadium's architecture, such as the three huge main entrances, incorporate the team's colors of black, process blue and silver. Arches that connect column supports on the upper deck resemble the shape of half a football, while several acres of numerous trees and landscaping surround the building. Each of the stadium's entrances are flanked on both sides by two larger-than-life bronze panther statues, something unique throughout the entire NFL.

These six statues are all named 'Indomitable Spirit' and were installed in 1996. Each one depicts a crouching, snarling panther with green eyes; they are the largest sculptures ever commissioned in the United States. The names of the team's original PSL owners are engraved into each statue's base. The stadium also has six light domes.

These are found on top of the main entrances, two per entrance, and sit over a hundred feet in the air. During the 2014 renovations, the domes were rebuilt with LED systems which allow them to project process blue in various ways not possible with the original technology. Additionally, two people in the Panthers Hall of Honor, former team executive Mike McCormack and former Panthers linebacker and assistant coach Sam Mills, are honored with life-sized bronze statues outside the stadium.

Three marble copies of a quote about the stadium from team founder Jerry Richardson were placed near the stadium's entrances in 2014. In 2016, a statue of Richardson was added in front of the stadium's north gate in celebration of his 80th birthday. In June 2020, the statue was removed, with the team citing potential safety concerns due to protests going on at the time.

Did You Know?

• The largest crowd to ever attend a football game at the stadium was on September 9, 2018, when 74,532 people watched the Panthers defeat the Dallas Cowboys 16–8.
• On December 24, 2022, the temperature was 20 °F at kickoff, making it the coldest home game in Panthers history.
• The stadium was the first large-scale project funded in the United States chiefly through securing Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs).
• In 2011, a rainstorm blanketed the stadium towards the end of the second quarter and caused severe flooding, with four-plus inches of rain falling in under an hour.