This season, we’d like to introduce you to Panthers fans not just around the country, but all around the world. It takes a lot to be a Panthers fan outside of the Carolinas – people make fun of you, you’re ostracized at parties, people constantly send you gifs on Twitter of fumbles not being recovered – but The Roaring Riot aims to help alleviate that issue by creating a watch party for your favorite team in every city on the globe.
This week, we’re proud to talk to Keith Hall and Navneet Buttar, creator and co-leaders of the Capital Riot, one of the oldest chapters in existence! We’ll be hanging out with them all weekend as a part of the Capital City Takeover, but here’s a little bit about how they got started.
Who Started Your Chapter and When?
Keith Hall: I started the chapter in 2004, the year after we went to the Super Bowl. I watched the Super Bowl at the State Theater in Falls Church, VA and saw several Panthers fans – I asked them where they watched the games and the response was generally, “nowhere.” Seeing as how there were bars in the DC area for teams like the Bills, Steelers, Raiders and Seahawks I was shocked that there were no Panthers groups. So I started sending out the message on old-school social media at the time – Craigslist and MeetUp.com. We started a regular thing with three of us, myself, Rick and his friend Spencer in the stinky, smoky basement of Rhodeside Grill. From three we grew to 30 the next year. I moved from DC to Charlotte the following year to follow the team in person, then moved back in 2009 where the bar we were meeting at made the questionable decision to also host the Saints. Looking for a home of our own, I researched locations and settled on McFadden’s – a location close to several public transportation options and willing to host us. It was the 2-14 season but they stood by us.
It was one fateful morning I was hanging our Panthers swag at McFadden’s with this guy walked in and asked if we were showing the Panthers game – that person who walked in that day was none other than Zack Luttrell, who was visiting DC for a wedding. He hung with us and saw some old friends from Charlotte. That meeting would be part of the inspiration for a nationwide network of Panthers fans chapters.
How Hard Was It To Find A Bar To Host You? Where Do You Have Game Watch Parties?
Navneet Buttar: Not hard at all. Most bars that weren’t already hosts of other NFL teams expressed extreme eagerness at the opportunity to be our host bar. For us, it was important that our home bar be the right fit for our fan base and meet certain needs that we’ve come to expect.
After McFaddens shut down in 2014, we moved to Lucky Bar for the 2015-2017 seasons. Lucky Bar was an awesome home for the past three seasons but as our fanbase kept growing, we wanted to similarly find a home that could accommodate our growing group – we found that this season in Mission-Navy-Yard, a brand new venue that has a capacity of 800—which means we will be able to accommodate all of our fans on any given Sunday. Mission has welcomed our group and has accommodated all of our traditions and requests; we are excited to host all visiting Roaring Riot members at our new home during the Capital City Takeover weekend for a Friday night welcome party!
How Many People Usually Show Up?
Navneet: Depends on the season. This season, we’ve had approximately 100-125 at our game watches thus far.
What Traditions (Audio, Cheers, Drinks, Etc.) Does Your Chapter Have?
Navneet: After every win, our DJ plays “Raise Up,” “Sweet Caroline,” and “All We Do Is Win” (in that order) and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a huge victory dance party as we all celebrate together. Game day shots have also been known to be a common occurrence among our fans. We also have audio and sound clips we play to give our fans as much of an authentic game day experience as possible.
Keith: I believe we were one of the first bars to play the stadium sounds at our watch party. I wanted to bring the same feeling as Bank of America Stadium to all of our games which is why I started playing sounds such as the Panther roar and “Boom Boom” during touchdowns and field goals and then recorded “It’s a Panthers…” so everyone would join in with “FIRST DOWN!”. That way a first-time visitor could easily join in with us and feel right at home.
Have you ever spotted a Panthers fan on the streets and invited them to watch with you?
Navneet: For sure. All the time!
Keith: Every opportunity. I had business cards printed up for Capital Riot that I would give out on flights and at the airport when flying between DC and Charlotte for games. Funny story: The year after we moved back to DC (2009) my wife Amy and I were sitting in a restaurant having dinner before the Panthers kicked off a Monday night game against Dallas. I saw this guy walk past the window wearing a blue John Kasay jersey so I jumped up and ran out of the restaurant to chase him down. Sometimes I wonder whatever happened to that guy and then I look up once a week to see him co-hosting the Roaring Riot Podcast with me.
Is it hard getting Washingtonians to embrace the Panthers?
Keith: Washington, DC is a very transient city. As I mentioned, there are bars for every team there but there were none for the Panthers. There is a very big Steelers, Eagles and Giants presence in the city so Redskins fans are pretty comfortable with other teams.
When we first started I did hear A LOT of “you’re doing well for such a young team”. It was akin to “you’re awful big for your age” or other condescending terms you hear from adults as a kid. However, by the end of the season when the Redskins are usually out of playoff contention there have been a few “die hard” Redskins fans who have showed up to cheer on the Panthers.
Any issues with those Redskins fans?
Navneet: Not really. DC is a very big transplant city—which means you’ll find fans of all stripes here. Being that we’re one of the nicest fan groups there is, we’ve never had an issue with Skins fans or other fans to be quite honest. In fact, I’ve personally found that folks will cheer for us if their team isn’t playing us, which is pretty nice!
Up Next: More With Nav & Keith, Plus Videos From the Super Bowl Year in 2015!
