The seven barbers wear jackets of black, blue and silver instead of classic white coats. Customers wear black capes with blue and silver stripes down the front.

Just nine blocks from Bank of America Stadium, the barbershop also illustrates the range of fans who have watched the Panthers' playoff push. While co-owner Woodie Daniels Sr. owns a permanent seat license (PSL) and has missed only one home game ever in Charlotte, co-owner Gene Winchester said he has been to only one home game. And that was eight years ago.

Winchester said he hasn't been able to get tickets in recent years. He usually watches the Panthers in the barbershop, which is closed Sundays but sometimes has up to 30 people watching the two TV sets that hang near the big Panthers logos on the walls.

A former Houston Oilers fan, Winchester said he has rooted for the Panthers since their first season in 1995, less than a year after he and Daniels opened the shop decked out in the team's colors. Also, since the Panthers are what most customers talk about on Mondays, he said, watching every game is good for business.

"You have to do that," he said.

Such devotion without seeing the Panthers in person shows how the team's fan base stretches beyond the 73,504-person capacity of Bank of America Stadium. For everyone in the crowd who rises for a big play, someone elsewhere springs from a sofa and cheers at the TV screen.

Consider Kerrie Carter of Huntersville. As a marketing director for Chick-fil-A, Carter said she plans promotions around the Panthers. She also walks by the stadium every year during the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Yet the "raving fan" has never seen her team in person, mostly because of the cost of taking a family of five to a game. Instead, Carter has photos of herself next to the Panthers statues outside the gates.

"That is the closest to the stadium I have been," she said.

High cost, low availability

For many fans, ticket cost and availability are top reasons why they've never been to a game. The average ticket price this season was about $63, less than the NFL average of about $72. Prices per game ranged from $38 to $100.

But to get season tickets -- about 90 percent of all tickets -- you must own a PSL. This season, those one-time costs, which the team uses to pay off stadium construction, ranged from $3,000 to $20,000 a seat.

The Panthers set aside about 10 percent of tickets for single-game sales, but those often sell out quickly. That leaves fans to buy from ticket brokers, scalpers and other re-sellers, many of whom charge higher prices.

Those costs -- plus others, such as parking and food -- keep some fans away, especially families and others on fixed budgets. Another factor is the rigors of simply going to a big sporting event.

Sheila Burleson said she retired due to illness in 1995 and became a Panthers fan -- and of quarterback Kerry Collins in particular -- that same year. While she's a bigger fan than ever, Burleson also said she has suffered other illnesses and that finding a parking place, walking several blocks to the stadium and climbing steps to upper-level seats "would probably finish me off."

"I like to joke that I am the best darned couch coach the Panthers ever had," she said.

Good seats at home

Other fans aren't physically impaired but simply don't like stadium crowds.

"I don't think you could pay me to go to downtown Charlotte to see a game," said Roy Smith, a systems programmer who lives in Mount Holly, citing parking problems, ticket prices and the distance of seats from the field.

"I will stay home and keep rooting for the Panthers in the comfort of my den," he said. "Also, the beer is more reasonably priced."

Robin Swinson of Indian Trail also has issues with the view. "I'm short, and I can't see over people," she said, "so I have the best seat in front of my TV."

Yet other fans say they would jump at the chance to see their first game in person, especially the playoffs. And at least one will get his chance.

Tickets for next Saturday's game went on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, and Shane Stone -- pastor of a church in Inman, S.C. -- said he snagged two $300 club seats at 10:02 a.m. While he has been to Charlotte Hornets and Charlotte Bobcats NBA games, this will be his first Panthers game, and he isn't sure "what in the world I am supposed to do when I get there."

"I have no idea where to park, or how much food costs," Stone said.

As for Gene Winchester, he said Friday that it's possible he could see the Panthers in person for the first time since 2000. More likely, though, he'll be down Graham Street, where the barbershop will have the big game on the small screen.

"I guess I'll watch it down here," he said. "I haven't gotten that far yet."

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