The Georgia Panthers are vs The Georgia Panthers is

[tecno40]

I am making a website for a local sports team, and I am working on fixing a few grammatical errors on the About Us page. One error I am not sure about is "The Georgia Panters are". "The Georgia Panthers are" sounds better, but If I remember correctly the correct format it "The Georgia Panthers is" since it is a single team, not multiple panthers. So which format is correct?

[Barb_D]

While a single team is often referred to as "is," when the team name is plural, we often use "are" and when the team name is singular, we often use "is."

So, the Miami Heat is, but the Detroit PIstons are.

You can look at the team's Web site and see how they refer to themselves. That's usually a safe bet.