If The NFL Were To Expand... Where To?
The recent sale of the Washington Commanders opened the league's eyes to how much interest there still is in investing and owning a professional team. Josh Harris and his committee won that bid but other well-known businessmen such as Jeff Bezos, Jay-Z, and Steve Apostolopoulos. Could this cause a couple of new teams to sprout in the NFL to fulfill these investors' desire to own a team?
How It Would Look
If the NFL were to decide to do this, they would ideally add 4 teams to make it 36 in the league. This way they could keep the AFC/NFC and have three divisions of six in each conference. They could expand the playoffs to look similar to the NHL. (No I am not suggesting a best-of-seven series) This could create an eight-team bracket in each conference consisting of the top two teams in each division and two wildcards.
Locations
Former NFL Cities
It has been historically popular to add teams to cities that just lost a team. It happened most recently with Houston and Cleveland. The Oilers left Houston in 1997 then within five years the city obtained the Texans. With Cleveland, the Browns moved to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Ravens. The city of Cleveland was so outraged that the NFL honored them with a new expansion team also called the Cleveland Browns. If the NFL were to expand today, they may use this method. If they did it is likely they would stay clear of San Diego and Oakland, the two most recent teams to relocate because fan loyalty seemed to stay high since both teams remained in the same state.
Instead, they may try a city like St. Louis which lost the Rams in 2016. There are still plenty of loyal fans in eastern Missouri but a lot of residents have either become fans of the Chiefs, who play on the other side of the state, or have lost a lot of interest in the NFL. Having a team back in St. Louis could renew some of the city's unity and regain interest in the NFL.
North Of The Border
The NFL is the only league of the four major sports in America (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL) that does not have a team based out of a Canadian location. Canada has the CFL (Canadian Football League) which is quite popular there. This could benefit the NFL because most Canadians already have a lot of knowledge about the sport. As a result, if the NFL were to expand to Canada, many people would be attracted to a team that plays a sport they're familiar with, but playing at a higher level.
The NBA and MLB only have a team in the Canadian city of Toronto which would be a good spot for the NFL to join them. Toronto could be added to a couple of different divisions because it is so close to a couple of cities that already have an NFL team. It is less than1 00 miles from Buffalo, less than 300 miles from Cleveland just over 300 from Pittsburgh, and about 230 miles from Detroit. If Washington and Dallas can be in the same division then any of these could easily work for Toronto.
If the NFL wanted to be a little unique from the NBA and MLB, they could try a different city like Winnipeg, Vancouver, or Montreal. Winnipeg is just a little north of Minnesota and northwest of Wisconsin making it the perfect addition to the NFC North. Vancouver would be a good addition to either conference's western division as it is just north of Seattle, any California team would not be too bad of a hike. Montreal is just over the border and within 400 miles of Buffalo and Boston making it a great new rival in the AFC East.
New City Altogether
The NFL should start favoring cities with successful college teams. While people in the South are typically more attracted to NCAA ball, football is still football to them. Then some cities have never had a team where it could quickly become popular.
The Falcons are a bad example as UGA football dominates the NFL in that region but that is partially because of the difference in success between the two teams. A good example is the city of Miami or the state of North Carolina. People in these regions typically watch more college than professional but the point is there are already football fans there. Could a city like Birmingham in Alabama attract some new professional league fans? Birmingham is only 50 miles from the city of Tuscaloosa where the University of Alabama is located and home of one of the biggest college football fanbases to exist.
Then there are other places that have never had an NFL team with not as dominant college teams but high school football is even bigger. Starting in Virginia, where "high school football is a way of life." quoted from the movie Remember the Titans. Virginia Tech has always been a big football school while UVA has a reputation for other sports.
The city of Richmond, which falls just east of Charlottesville, would make a great spot for a new team. It is halfway between Charlotte, home of the Panthers, and Washington D.C., home of the Commanders which are two small fanbase franchises meaning people in the area may be open to cheering for a new team.
Finally, two cities that are strangers to the major four leagues of the United States. Aside from minor league and college teams, Jackson, Mississippi and Little Rock, Arkansas have been deprived of professional sports teams. I do not know much about the culture in these areas, but given the surrounding states, they seem like they could use a football team. Both cities have a population of around 200,000 people so these teams would get plenty of attention.
What other cities could use an NFL team?
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