These are exciting times for Fort Worth Texas sports fans, who are about to get a National Lacrosse League team playing out of the state-of-the-art Dickies Arena.
On July 22, 2020, the National Lacrosse League, or NLL for short, made history when they announced that Fort Worth Texas would be awarded the league’s 14th franchise. They are scheduled to begin their inaugural campaign in November 2021, for the 2021-2022 season.
“We are excited to bring the National Lacrosse League and world-class professional lacrosse to north Texas, the great city of Fort Worth and Dickies Arena,” team President and CEO Greg Bibb said. “As a Fort Worth resident, I’m proud to serve as a steward of this team, a community asset for the city and region to enjoy, support and rally around.”
The franchise announced on November 17 that they would officially be named The Panther City Lacrosse Club.
“For nearly 150 years Fort Worth has proudly owned the Panther City moniker,” Bibb said. “By naming the team the Panther City Lacrosse Club we unabashedly lean into that history and celebrate our thriving city and the people who make the 13th largest municipality in the United States feel like the best small town in America. Today we proudly announce to the world, we are Fort Worth, we are Panther City.”
The team’s logo and design for Panther City Lacrosse Club contains the Panther, the star and Spanish Colonial architecture. The Panther association dates back to a newspaper column written in 1875 by Robert Cowart from the Dallas Daily Herald which read,
“Last week our suburban village of Fort Worth was the scene of the wildest excitement… The high water of the Trinity (River) overflowed the bottom and drove out a panther, who wandered at his own sweet will during the night through the streets. Next morning his tracks were seen by the terror- stricken natives… The whole village turned out to examine the tracks of the monster, and a public meeting was immediately called… Parson Fitzgerald drove down a stake, (Where) the (panther) had laid down.”
The Panther reflects the attitude and spirit and symbol of strength for Fort Worth Texas. The logo’s star symbolizes the lone star state and all of Texas, while the shield which the panther and star rest in symbolizes Spanish Colonial architecture. The logo’s red and purple colors are symbolic an ominous big cat which hunts at night. A panther which is threatening and an aggressive apex predator that is on the prowl.
“The leadership of the Panther City Lacrosse Club took the time to uncover the right look and feel for their brand, and the result is unique and on message not just for their fans, but for all of lacrosse as well,” NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz said. “This selection, and all the events surrounding it, continue to show why we as a league and Fort Worth as a city are so bullish on the team’s inaugural season next year. We know this will be the model for how to launch a franchise that is reinforced with the unveiling today.”
The future is extremely bright for Fort Worth fans, as they will soon enough be treated to some high calibre action packed professional lacrosse.
