Get to Know Charlotte's Pro Sports

On October 26, 1993, fireworks exploded over Uptown Charlotte as excited fans celebrated the newest NFL team: The Carolina Panthers, the 29th NFL expansion franchise. 

Both players and fans can thank Sam Mills, a former linebacker turned assistant coach, for the team's battle cry. Mills was preparing for his fifth season as a coach when he was diagnosed with terminal intestinal cancer. He was given three months to live. Against all odds, four months later, Mills was on the sideline when the Panthers played in their first Super Bowl, a narrow loss to the New England Patriots. The words he shared with the players that day still ring true: "When I found out I had cancer, there were two things I could do: quit or keep pounding," Mills said. "I'm a fighter. I kept pounding. You're fighters, too. Keep pounding!" Mills coached the next season as well and lived 17 months longer than predicted before succumbing to the disease in April of 2005 at the age of 45. Still to this day, "Keep Pounding" is the team motto and keeps Mills' competitive spirit alive. 

Charlotte’s affection for professional basketball stretches back to 1988 when the Charlotte Hornets were one of four new teams brought into the league. During the American revolution, Charlotte became known as a "hornet's nest of rebellion" after British soldiers were forced to retreat during the Battle of Charlotte. Since 1819, the hornet's nest has been a symbol of pride and strength for the city, making it the perfect name for the city's first professional basketball team. In fact, the team was originally going to be called the Charlotte Spirit, but a name-the-team contest yielded “Hornets” as the winning choice.

Baseball has been part of the Queen City for over 100 years. In the 1800s, a minor league team, called "Hornets," played one season in the 19th century South Atlantic League. In 1901, the Charlotte Hornets was officially coined as an American minor league baseball franchise. In 1987, the team was bought by George Shin, who founded the NBA Charlotte Hornets. He renamed the team "Charlotte Knights" and moved the team to Fort Mill, South Carolina, for several years before finally moving back and settling the team in Uptown Charlotte in 2013. 

Professional baseball came to Charlotte in spring 2014, when BB&T Ballpark (now Truist Field) opened and AAA Chicago White Sox affiliate the Charlotte Knights moved from Fort Mill, South Carolina, to Uptown Charlotte. 

In the 1940s, the Charlotte Clippers captured the Eastern Hockey League’s regular-season and playoff titles in dominant fashion. However, in the late 1950s, the team renamed itself the Charlotte Checkers and found itself struggling on the ice. Loss after loss led to dangers of the team being disbanded. But thanks to a citizen's fundraising group, the team was able to stay afloat. Over the next few seasons, coach Fred Creighton slowly built the Checkers back into an EHL powerhouse, winning back-to-back championships in 1971 and 1972.

With more than 85 percent of NASCAR’s teams located in the region and Charlotte Motor Speedway in nearby Concord, Charlotte is racing country.

Learn how the sport got started and see relics from famed drivers at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which is located in Uptown Charlotte. This museum gives visitors a first-hand look at the sport with riveting simulators, experiences and artifacts.