In North Carolina there are still some Washington (NFL) holdovers from before when the Panthers were a thing. Nowhere near as many as say, 2000, but they still exist.
There are still a lot of Braves fans here too, although their "pull" isn't as strong as it was when they were on TBS.
Used to be, and to some extent still is, some joking banter between Raleigh and Charlotte when it comes to sports. Charlotte has the NBA/NFL which obviously is more popular than NHL but neither team is any good ATM and honestly never has been. The Hurricanes however have a championship and have been the only consistent team in the state for the past 5 years.