Analyzing the Possibilities of NFL Domestic Expansion
The American sports world seems to have been gripped by a sort of “expansion fever” in the 2020s. The NBA has recently called expansion “inevitable,” MLB is seeking to expand by the end of the decade, the NHL has already added two new franchises in the last few years, and the newest addition to the WNBA has already established itself successfully. New teams, cities, and markets are being pulled into the wider world of major sports at a frankly breakneck pace. The question is, will this fever infect the NFL?
It has been over two decades since the NFL added an expansion team to the league, with the creation of the Houston Texans in 2002. Since this period of “Realignment,” the NFL has stuck with 32 teams for almost the entirety of the 21st Century. However, multiple teams have relocated across the league during this time, leaving fan bases behind, usually in search of greater profit margins from friendlier local governments and bigger media markets. Could the NFL restore a team to these communities, bringing them back into the fold of the league? It's happened before, with the restoration of the Browns franchise in Cleveland following the infamous move to Baltimore in the late 90s.
St. Louis is one such city that could see an NFL team “replanted.” Once the host of the Cardinals before their move to Arizona, and most famously, the home of the Kurt Warner era Rams, St. Louis found itself being left by an NFL team for the second time in 30 years when the Rams returned to Los Angeles in 2016. The city remains a solid home to other major sports teams like the Blues in hockey and the Cardinals in baseball, and would likely welcome the return of an NFL team with open arms, particularly after the hurt feelings sustained by the Rams’ move back to California. St. Louis isn’t the only city to lose a team to LA recently, who would be in the running for a restorative franchise.
San Diego was the home of the Chargers from 1961 all the way until 2017. The team established a legacy over half a century that can still be felt around the city to this day. As a major city with a large population and media market, the league would be wise to consider planting a flag back in SD. It should also be noted that teams in the NFL have a history of leaving Los Angeles just as often as they move there, and with the Chargers being treated as the proverbial second favorite child behind the Rams by the city’s football fans, the Chargers very well could see themselves returning to their old stomping grounds within the next few decades.
While the two aforementioned cities held franchises that were beloved by their populace, there is another former NFL city that held their team in great disdain and could welcome a truly new franchise ecstatically. Memphis temporarily hosted the newly christened “Tennessee Oilers” after the franchise’s relocation from Houston in 1997. It was public knowledge that the Oilers were only planning to be in Memphis for a couple of years until their new stadium in Nashville was completed, and the good people of Memphis had no interest in courting a team that was planning to ditch it almost immediately. The Oilers’ time in Memphis was a massive embarrassment for the franchise, and when they were born again as the Titans, they remained a Nashville product through and through. Memphis is a city that would not only be able to easily accommodate an NFL franchise but would embrace it heartily, provided it authentically belonged to them. Geographically, it could also appeal greatly to residents of Arkansas and Mississippi, as both states lack an NFL franchise.
There are also a number of cities that lack a history with the NFL that would be great targets for expansion. San Antonio boasts a solid record as a sports city with the tenured Spurs franchise, closer proximity to the city of Austin than the other two Texas NFL cities in Dallas and Houston, and a very successful recent history of supporting local football teams in lower leagues, such as the XFL and UFL. While the league’s last expansion also brought another team to Texas, I think it's common knowledge that the Lone Star State can never get enough football. Portland, Oregon, is another probable target for expansion, as a well-populated city with another Big Four franchise, the Trail Blazers, located in a state without an NFL team. A Portland team could easily solidify itself into a Pacific Northwest rivalry with the Seahawks, bringing immediate local stakes and legitimacy to a new franchise. One final city that would be a good landing place for a brand-new franchise is Orlando, Florida. Again, this is a city with a great market, another Big Four team in the Magic, and a history of supporting smaller teams like the AAF’s Apollos and the rebooted XFL’s Guardians. Super Bowl MVPs often famously proclaim, “I’m going to Disney World” after their victory; where better to put an NFL team than where Disney World already is?
