Charlotte Bobcats

The Charlotte Bobcats are an American basketball team who will play in the National Basketball Association starting in 2004-05.

Founded: January 10, 2003

Formerly known as:

Home Arena: Charlotte Coliseum[?] 2004-05, New Charlotte Arena[?] 2005

Uniform colors: Orange,blue, black and silver.

Logo design: Side profile of an orage color bobcat.

Franchise History

When the Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans for the 2002-03 season, the city successfully managed to have the NBA award the town an expansion team for the 2004-05 season. Several ownership groups made bids for this team, in the end, a group led by BET multi-millionaire Bob Johnson[?] won out. Johnson is the first prominent African-American owner in U.S. sports. The "Bobcats" nickname is said to be based on him.

The team will play in the Eastern Conference with the NBA having confirmed the Hornets moving to the Western Conference. The NBA is rumoured to go to a 3 division set-up for 2004-05 so there is no definitive word on a division yet.