The Carolina Panthers went 2-14 last season, fired long-time head coach John Fox, received the number one overall pick in the draft which they used on Heisman winner and National Champion Cam Newton at quarterback. After the NFL lockout, the Panthers signed every star player they had, extended some, spent a lot of money overall and made a trade to bring in an exciting offensive weapon in Greg Olsen and somehow, kept Steve Smith happy enough to keep him around. So far, early in this NFL season, the Panthers are 0-2. They’ve lost each game by a touchdown. The Panthers are losing at an alarming rate. They are 10 for their last 34 and 2 of their last 18. But if you’re comparing Charlotte’s NFL and NBA franchises, there is no comparison.
The Panthers have excitement behind them. I wouldn’t call it momentum by any stretch but, wait, I’m forgetting one major factor. The Panthers are playing games! Not a whole lot the Bobcats can do to make up for that in this imaginary competition I have going in my head but it’s a major factor. But let’s set that aside for a moment. Well maybe not, that might be a huge factor in any argument if you’re looking at pros and cons for a league or team.
The NFL lockout ended just in time for the NFL season to get started. There was only game missed and that was the Hall of Fame exhibition game. You could argue that the lockout drew more attention, in the will they/won’t they drama of negotiations followed by a much shorter free agency window that drew so much excitement for fans, with big signings every day leading up to the opening of training camps and throughout the preseason. Why is this significant? Because even the preseason, with season ticket holders being forced to buy tickets and rare and interesting out of town teams (read: Steelers) coming to visit, the NFL stood to lose a far larger chunk of money than the NBA could stand to lose. Each team only gets 10 home games in the NFL, the NBA gets between 41 and 46. Ticket prices for the Panthers average $64 and the stadium holds 73,778. Ticket prices for the Bobcats average $34 and the arena holds 19,077. By those numbers, it would take 7 games for the Bobcats to equal one Panthers game, and that’s assuming a full house and we all know that unless we’re talking Lakers, Celtics or Heat you won’t see the Time Warner Cable Arena full. It could, feasibly take a solid quarter of a season to equal the financial impact of lost games for the Bobcats to one game of the Panthers. I don’t even know what kind of math and googling I’d have to do if you factor in the hour or so of extra beer, umm, I mean concession sales.
If we’re talking labor issues as well, let alone that financial impact, the gulf between NBA owners and the NBPA is far greater than that of the NFL and the NFLPA. So there is less pressure to get a deal done and more hindrance to work through. The labor situation has the NBA way behind the NFL and I havent even taken into account the rumors (fact?) that some owners in the NBA would happily lose a season in order to get the collective baragaining agreement more agreeable for them.
Focusing on Charlotte, the gap between the Panthers and the Bobcats was wide from day one; it’s only getting bigger and deeper. The Panthers and the Uptown Stadium were not only wanted but the city was clamoring for them back in the mid-nineties. The Bobcats came as a concession after the Hornets left town following some iffy years with shady owners. The arena was actually voted down by referendum and somehow the city government made it happen. It’s ended up being a fine draw for some conventions and strengthened the uptown landscape. You could say without the arena there would be no Epicenter, Uptown Campus for UNCC and many other projects. You can definitely say that the 2012 Democrat National Convention wouldn’t be a consideration if there were no Uptown Arena. But in the court of public opinion, the arena and team were a hard sell and they continue to be.
So all factors outside of the actual on court or on field interests, the Bobcats are way, way, way behind the Panthers. But now? With Cam Newton lighting it up, Steve Smith putting the polish on his future bronze statue outside of Bank of America Stadium and all the really great defensive players running around making plays, the Panthers on the field product is on the way up.
I am not saying that the Bobcats are just useless or something on the court, but not knowing if Bismack Biyombo will even be allowed to play in the NBA, setting aside playing ability questions and having two undersized, hardly heralded young point guards; it’s not as hopeful a situation as the Panthers have.
I’m not one of those people that think somehow the people of the Charlotte-Metro area only have “x” amount of dollars to spend on sports and that if they spend it on the Panthers they won’t spend a dime on the Bobcats. I simply don’t think that’s the case, being that most season tickets are bought by corporate interests or small business owners. It’s not so much a competition but with the Panthers situation being so optimistic and the Bobcats having such questions lingering on all fronts, I think it makes for an interesting contrast.
Let’s hope a rising tide, even in unrelated sports, raises all ships.
Andrew Barraclough is Senior Editor for RobertoGato.com, a Charlotte Bobcats Blog on the Fansided Network. Follow him on Twitter @therobertogato and Like the site on Facebook.