Editing Carolina Panthers (section)

===Beginnings===
On December 15, 1987, entrepreneur [[Jerry Richardson]] announced his bid for an NFL expansion franchise in [[the Carolinas]].<ref name="Chronology" /> A North Carolina native, Richardson was a former wide receiver on the [[Baltimore Colts]] who had used his [[1959 NFL Championship Game|1959]] league championship bonus to co-franchise the first [[Hardee's]] restaurant in Spartanburg, SC, eventually expanding to a chain of franchises as co-founder of Spartan Food Systems before becoming president and CEO of [[Trans World Corporation|Flagstar]].<ref name="p614">{{cite web | last=Belson | first=Ken | title=Jerry Richardson, Who Founded the Carolina Panthers, Dies at 86 | website=The New York Times | date=March 5, 2023 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/05/sports/jerry-richardson-dead.html | access-date=August 4, 2024}}</ref><ref name="k993">{{Cite web |date=February 24, 2021 |title=Richardson gives record $150 million to Wofford College Endowment |url=https://www.wofford.edu/about/news/news-archives/2021/richardson-gift |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=Wofford College}}</ref> Richardson drew his inspiration to pursue an NFL franchise from [[George Shinn]], who had made a successful bid for an expansion [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA) team in Charlotte, the [[Charlotte Hornets]]. Richardson founded Richardson Sports, a partnership consisting of himself, his family, and a number of businessmen from North and South Carolina who were also recruited to be [[limited partnership|limited partners]].<ref name="The Franchise">{{cite magazine |last=Hoffer |first=Richard |date=October 28, 1991 |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1140299/index.htm |title=The Franchise |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |location=New York |publisher=[[Time Inc.]] |pages=64–66, 70, 72–73 |volume=75 |issue=19 |issn=0038-822X |access-date=April 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225145317/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1140299/index.htm |archive-date=December 25, 2013 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> Richardson looked at four potential locations for a stadium, ultimately choosing [[Charlotte center city|uptown Charlotte]].

To highlight the demand for professional football in the Carolinas, Richardson Sports held preseason games around the area from 1989 to 1991. The first two games were held at [[Carter–Finley Stadium]] in [[Raleigh, North Carolina]], and [[Kenan Memorial Stadium]] in [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]], while the third and final game was held at [[Williams-Brice Stadium]] in [[Columbia, South Carolina]]. The matchups were between existing NFL teams. In 1991, the group formally filed an application for the open expansion spot, and on October 26, 1993, the 28 NFL owners unanimously named the Carolina Panthers as the 29th member of the NFL.<ref name="Chronology" /> In the [[1995 NFL draft]], the Panthers selected quarterback [[Kerry Collins]] out of Penn State with their first ever draft selection.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1995 Carolina Panthers Draftees |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/car/1995_draft.htm |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>