Panthers fans in Virginia (Norfolk, Hampton: college, live in, stadium)

[TRICITIESTITAN]

I'm just curious....Are there many Carolina Panthers football fans in Virginia?

[newvadad]

It's a pretty big state, I'm sure there are some, somewhere. Are you looking for something, someplace or someone in particular?

[lammius]

Virginia is mostly Redskins territory. There are a lot of Cowboys and Steelers fans mixed in too.

This map is a few years old, but it shows that there may be some Panthers fans in Danville, VA, but the rest of the state roots for the Skins.
CommonCensus Sports Map

[TRICITIESTITAN]

I grew up in Bristol, va in the tri-cities area near tn and people tend to gravitate towards the titans there. I was just curious if people in non-nova portions of va tend to gravitate towards other teams as well.

[Watchful]

The Panthers stadium is quite a bit closer than FedEx Field to us in Roanoke...but Roanoke definitely follows the R'skins more than the Panthers. It would be hard for me to figure out which team would be #2.

But the R'skins still take a back seat to following college football - predominantly Hokie with a good contingent of UVa followers.

[The Dissenter]

I live in Northern VA and am a Panthers fan. But Virginia is definitely Redskins country for the most part. Cowboys and Steelers are also here with big followings.

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by lammius

This map is a few years old, but it shows that there may be some Panthers fans in Danville, VA, but the rest of the state roots for the Skins.
CommonCensus Sports Map

Cool map..
Interesting to me that the Skins have held onto eastern NC & the Outer Banks. Carolina had been Redskins country for several generations, I'm guessing the younger Panther fans & future generations will eventually turn the entire state to Panthers at some point tho (?) I've encountered a decent Panther and Tarheel contingent in V-A, but I rarely see Carolina Hurricane gear..

Truth is, going back before Falcons & Panthers, etc, my understanding is the entire Southeast was part of the Skins fan-base..

[lammius]

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

Cool map..
Interesting to me that the Skins have held onto eastern NC & the Outer Banks. Carolina had been Redskins country for several generations, I'm guessing the younger Panther fans & future generations will eventually turn the entire state to Panthers at some point tho (?) I've encountered a decent Panther and Tarheel contingent in V-A, but I rarely see Carolina Hurricane gear..

Much of eastern NC may change to Panthers at some point, with the exception of the northeastern counties, probably. Those areas are in the Hampton Roads media market, which covers DC sports teams. I think those areas also get MASN, the sports network that covers DC/Baltimore sports teams.

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

Truth is, going back before Falcons & Panthers, etc, my understanding is the entire Southeast was part of the Skins fan-base..

That's true. The Redskins were THE southern team decades ago. In fact, I've heard that the fight song "Hail to the Redskins" used to end with the lyric, "Fight for Old Dixie" which has since changed to "Fight for old D.C."

[TRICITIESTITAN]

It would make sense to me that the southern parts of VA would go for a team other than the Skins simply based on the region and it's distance to DC. I mean...if you grew up where I did (Bristol, VA) you are a good 7 1/2 hours from DC. Whereas, Charlotte is only around 3 hours away and Nashville is around 4 1/2. I pull for the Titans because the Tri Cities metro sits on the VA/TN border...so TN teams just feel more local to me...plus we get all of the Titans games on WJHL which is our CBS affiliate...so they are easier to follow.

I assumed that the same would be the case for towns like Danville, Martinsville, Emporia, and HR to some degree as well for the Panthers.

[lammius]

Originally Posted by TRICITIESTITAN

It would make sense to me that the southern parts of VA would go for a team other than the Skins simply based on the region and it's distance to DC. I mean...if you grew up where I did (Bristol, VA) you are a good 7 1/2 hours from DC. Whereas, Charlotte is only around 3 hours away and Nashville is around 4 1/2. I pull for the Titans because the Tri Cities metro sits on the VA/TN border...so TN teams just feel more local to me...plus we get all of the Titans games on WJHL which is our CBS affiliate...so they are easier to follow.

I assumed that the same would be the case for towns like Danville, Martinsville, Emporia, and HR to some degree as well for the Panthers.

Southwestern VA, sure. In Southeastern VA, no team is closer than Washington. Heck, Norfolk is closer to the stadia of the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles than it is to the Carolina Panthers!

Also, towns in northeastern NC such as Elizabeth City, Edenton, OBX, etc., are also closer to Washington than to Charlotte. They're also in the Norfolk media market so they see and hear lots of Redskins propaganda.