Claim: Carolina Panthers are a sports team.

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte , North Carolina . The Panthers compete in the National Football League -LRB- NFL -RRB- , as a member club of the league 's National Football Conference -LRB- NFC -RRB- South division . The club is worth approximately US$ 1.56 billion , according to Forbes , and is controlled by founder Jerry Richardson and his family , who have a 48 percent stake ; the remainder of the team is held by a group of 14 limited partners . The team president is Danny Morrison , and the head coach is Ron Rivera .   The Panthers were announced as the league 's 29th franchise in 1993 , and began play in 1995 . The Panthers played well in their first two years , finishing in 1995 -LRB- an all-time best for an NFL expansion team 's first season -RRB- and 12 -- 4 the following year , winning the NFC West before ultimately losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game . They did not have another winning season until 2003 , when they won the NFC Championship Game and reached Super Bowl XXXVIII , losing 32 -- 29 to the New England Patriots . After recording playoff appearances in 2005 and 2008 , the team failed to record another playoff appearance until 2013 , the first of three consecutive NFC South titles . After losing in the divisional round to the San Francisco 49ers in 2013 and the Seattle Seahawks in 2014 , the Panthers finally returned to the Super Bowl in 2016 , but lost to the Denver Broncos . The Panthers have reached the playoffs seven times , advancing to four NFC Championship Games and two Super Bowls . They have won six division titles , one in the NFC West and five in the NFC South .   The Carolina Panthers are legally registered as Panther Football , LLC . The team is headquartered in Bank of America Stadium in uptown Charlotte ; also the team 's home field . They are one of the few NFL teams to own the stadium they play in , which is legally registered as Panthers Stadium , LLC . The Panthers are supported throughout the Carolinas ; although the team has played its home games in Charlotte since 1996 , it played home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson , South Carolina during its first season . The team hosts its annual training camp at Wofford College in Spartanburg , South Carolina .