The Home Of The Carolina Panthers
The bank of America stadium is a 73,504-seat football stadium located in the uptown charlotte, North Carolina. It is formerly known as the Carolinas stadium and Ericsson stadium. The bank of America stadium is the official home facility of the Carolina Panthers NFL franchise. The stadium has also been the site of different games activities featuring the east Carolina University Pirates. The bank of America stadium will be the host the 2010 and 2011 ACC championship games.
The organization involved in constructing the stadium had considered several sites for the location of the stadium. One alternative was at NASCAR's Lowes Motor Speedway and at the University of North Carolina in the north east of Mecklenburg country. Another was at the intersection in the western Gaston country. The best option that organizers had was to locate the facility near the Carowinds amusement park, in between the border of North and South Carolina.
The stadium was originally named as the Carolina Stadium. This name was used when FIFA world cup was held in Carolina which opened in 1996. The stadium was later named as the Ericsson stadium after the Swedish telecom purchased the naming rights of the stadium for a year contract. In 2004, the bank of America acquired the naming rights of the stadium for 20 years. Since the rights were acquired by the bank of America, many fans now call it as The Vault, The Bank or The BOA.
The Carolina Panthers played their inaugural season at the Clemson University memorial stadium while the stadium was still being constructed. September 14, 1996 is the date where the Carolina Panther played their first game at the stadium.
The Carolina Panthers were on their way to their first NFC championship game in 1996, they were able to defeat the defending super bowl champion Dallas cowboys. And again they were able to defeat the Cowboys on their way to the Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston in 2004. The stadium played a big role in winning the championship battles of the Carolina Panthers, since most games in the NFL during that season was held at the Bank of America stadium
The stadium was fully constructed in the early 1990's. The stadium was pioneering the project for the use of PSL (personal seat licenses). It was the first project funded in the US chiefly through securing Personal seat licenses.
The stadium was credited with being the major cause for the recent round of new stadiums in the NFL. Only a decade after the construction of the stadium in Carolina, it is now the third oldest current NFL stadiums. There are only five old NFL stadiums, which have not received any renovations, the Edward Jones Dome, the Louisiana Superdome, the arrowhead stadium and the Texas Stadium.
The bank of America stadium is mostly used as a football facility but it hosted the rolling Stones on October 10, 1997 and had been the site of the NCAA men's Soccer Championship in 1999 and 2000. The Billy graham crusade was also held at the bank of America stadium.