Panthers fans can't be too condescending toward the bandwagon riders. After all, the team is only 9 years old, so no one older than that can claim to be a lifelong fan.

It's just a matter of when they came aboard. Bobby Smith, 26, said he did three years ago.

"It's kind of cool to live in a state with a pro team," said Smith, who moved from Las Vegas to North Carolina five years ago.

Kristie Gregory, 25, of Garner, who was looking over Panthers merchandise Tuesday at Triangle Town Center in Raleigh, said she has been a fan since the franchise first kicked off, because she wanted an NFL team to cheer for.

Amanda Caldwell and Dani Congleton, both of Raleigh, were shopping for Panthers clothes for their husbands to wear to a Super Bowl party.

"I don't watch football," Caldwell said. "I'm just rooting for them because they're from the area. I'm going to the party for the food."

Congleton's 10-year-old daughter found a jersey and tried to wheedle her mom into the $50 purchase. Congleton said her daughter started cheering for the Panthers when they began winning.

Rodney Robertson, 37, manages Pro Image, a sports shop at the mall. He said countless new and old Panthers fans have been snapping up merchandise at the store. Jerseys and T-shirts were flying off the shelves, with Stephen Davis and Julius Peppers uniforms being the most popular.

Robertson estimated that about 40 percent of the shoppers were bandwagon newcomers.

"Fans are fickle like that," he said. "Winning does that. Now, my NHL sales are gone because the Hurricanes aren't doing good."

And if the Panthers win?

"Oh boy," he said.