The Carolina Panthers won their second game of the season on Sunday, but it was photos of the shockingly empty Bank of America Stadium that made headlines over the weekend.
“Carolina Panthers fans have become so disinterested in their team that not even tickets under a dollar could convince them to go to a game,” Ahmad Austin Jr., reporter for Mediaite.com, writes.
Austin Jr. adds that after drafting quarterback Bryce Young with the number one pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, “the team and its fans hoped that this season would mark the start of its return to championship contention.
“Unfortunately, the exact opposite has happened as the team is doing significantly worse than its 7-10 performance last season.”
Prior to Sunday’s game against the now 6-8 Atlanta Falcons, the Panthers “were a league-worst 1-12,” Austin Jr. reports. “Unsurprisingly, Panthers fans weren’t eager to fill the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.”
Demand was so low, Austin Jr. writes, that some ticket prices “plummeted to just $0.45″ days before the game.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s D. Orlando Ledbetter, despite the ridiculously low ticket prices, the stadium was nearly empty just 10 minutes before kickoff. “Making the turnout especially brutal was the fact that Sunday was ‘Friends & Family Day’ at the game,” Austin Jr. adds. Read more here.
With the win, Yahoo Sports reporter Rhiannon Walker says the Panthers “actually helped the Dallas Cowboys clinch its spot in the playoffs and hurt the Falcons.”
Walker adds, “Atlanta was trying to keep pace with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South race, but have now fallen a game behind after the Bucs beat the Green Bay Packers and moved to 7-7. Read more here.
Mediaite.com, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Yahoo Sports contributed to this story