CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) – The Carolina Panthers host a 1-7 record with the latest loss to the Saints on Sunday. The team's struggle on the field means they dominate the morning conversation at places like The Head Shop.
"We call it black Monday when they lose and we've had a lot of black Mondays," Owner Mike Waters said. Waters is a 16 year PSL owner. Asked if he regrets the decision this year, he says no. But Waters has some customers who do. A sign hangs in the shop advertising tickets for sale.
Online Panthers tickets can be found everywhere, for cheap. Places like ticket exchange show more than a thousand tickets up for sale for future home games.
"We're definitely seeing a lot of sales going to the opposing cities as well as the fans of the opposing teams," Greg Carl with Maxim Tickets said.
In fact Carl estimates 70 percent of ticket sales are for opposing fans.
But a bad season may actually benefit fans.
Carl notes tickets for the last three home games are at a historic low - as cheap as $15 for some seats against the Arizona Cardinals.
"Some panthers fans that may not be able to generally afford to go to a game are having an opportunity to this season," Carl said. "The demand for the NFL product in and of itself does help so whether the team is playing well or bad, we are able to move a majority of tickets. From a revenue standpoint however, that's where you'll see the difference from season to season."
On the flip side, brokers say sellers will be lucky to get half the face value of the ticket.
And another possible reason for keeping the value down - the team's young age. The Panthers don't have the history of other teams to attract fans.
Die hard fans say they continue to see empty seats. By halftime Sunday game goers said more Saints fans remained than Panthers fans.
"There's no one really happy with coaching, not really happy with Jerry. We've got some disgruntled fans around town now," Walters said.
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