# Likelihood San Diego, Oakland or St. Louis will ever get NFL teams again

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [January 25, 2020, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945 "2020-01-25T06:01:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/41 "2020-01-26T21:22:13Z")

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> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> The “shell game” referred to as being in decline was getting taxpayers to pay for new stadiums, not the sport itself.

Ahhh, that makes sense then.

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**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/42 "2020-01-27T00:21:54Z")

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> [@dalej42](#):
>
> And, of course, the players need to be eligible to enter Canada as well as be able to get a work permit quickly should you have some marginal guy who gets signed at the last minute to be a special teams guy. It’s occasionally been an issue in hockey.

Seems to be something they know how to manage with the Blue Jays and Raptors. Pro sports teams have this stuff down pat. Once in a great while you hear about Smith being help up a day or two, but as risks go it’s maybe 1/10,000th as big a deal as the injury issues sports teams are perpetually dealing with.

If anything, the NFL, where you only play a game a week, gives a team a little extra room to manage this stuff.

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/43 "2020-01-27T01:11:48Z")

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Panthers paid for their stadium with seat licenses which they are quick to point out. They are not as quick to mention they just got a lot of tax money for upgrades. I think at least  
$100 mil. And the new owner is talking about a new stadium even though the current place is nice and has plenty of boxes and club seats. It was built in 1996. One unique thing is the playing surface is large enough for soccer and the owner just got a MLS expansion team that will play there until a soccer only stadium is built.

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**Author:** ![Harrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac8455/32.png) [@Harrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harrington)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/44 "2020-01-27T01:13:22Z")

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As much as I’m sure Oakland’s populace wants an(another) NFL team, the pain of losing that team must be greater than the excitement of getting that team.

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**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/45 "2020-01-27T04:43:59Z")

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> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> The “shell game” referred to as being in decline was getting taxpayers to pay for new stadiums, not the sport itself.

The Shell-don Adelson game you mean. I can’t even conveniently watch a home game and stuck paying his bills.

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**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/46 "2020-01-27T18:23:11Z")

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> [@jaycat](#):
>
> I wonder if I’m the only East Coast guy who periodically gets confused about which California team is currently playing out of which city? Talking about the Oakland/LA/Oakland Raiders… the LA/San Diego/LA Chargers… the LA/Anaheim/Angels… (are there more?). It seems like they’re all on endless journeys up and down the coast.

I was thinking about this just yesterday. LOTS of teams out west have moved over the decades and not just from eastern cities. Sticking with just the N.F.L., you’ve got: Raiders, Rams, Cardinals, Chargers, Chiefs, Titans, Colts, Bears, Lions. And that doesn’t include the Ravens (since, as far as the N.F.L. is concerned, that was considered to be a “new” team when Art Modell moved it from Cleveland). Lots out west, though while most N.F.L. teams that are based out west these days started out further east, not all of them did. In fact one of them (Raiders) is actually moving further east from having started in California.

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**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/47 "2020-01-29T23:43:25Z")

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Some sabre rattling (pun intended) out of Buffalo about their stadium situation. I’m sure Buffalo is a market the NFL is eager to be out of. I don’t see any scenario where that area becomes a growth area or full of the corporate sponsors the NFL craves. And they don’t have the history of a Green Bay since their most famous historical player won’t be doing any marketing campaigns unless it’s for a private prison lobbying firm.

> **[Goodell: Bills stadium issues have to be settled in coming months -...](https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/01/29/goodell-bills-stadium-issues-have-to-be-settled-in-coming-months/)**
>
> Among the questions that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell fielded during a press conference in Miami on Wednesday was one regarding the Bills’ stadium.New Era Field is one of the older buildings in the league and it was renovated in the last decade,...

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**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/48 "2020-01-29T23:55:51Z")

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> [@racepug](#):
>
> I was thinking about this just yesterday. LOTS of teams out west have moved over the decades and not just from eastern cities. Sticking with just the N.F.L., you’ve got: Raiders, Rams, Cardinals, Chargers, Chiefs, Titans, Colts, Bears, Lions. And that doesn’t include the Ravens (since, as far as the N.F.L. is concerned, that was considered to be a “new” team when Art Modell moved it from Cleveland). Lots out west, though while most N.F.L. teams that are based out west these days started out further east, not all of them did. In fact one of them (Raiders) is actually moving further east from having started in California.

Some of those are a bit of a stretch. I don’t think there’s anyone alive that was around in the early days of the NFL for the Bears and Lions. The Chiefs would have been the early 1960s so they’d have to be around 60. The Cardinals would have been sometime in the 1980s along with the Titans and Colts. Even the Browns to Ravens has been over 20 years ago.

The average NFL fan isn’t going to remember most of these franchise shifts unless they’re auditioning for Jeopardy. Even the Rams/Raiders leaving LA was the early 1990s.

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**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/49 "2020-01-30T02:31:03Z")

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> [@racepug](#):
>
> I was thinking about this just yesterday. LOTS of teams out west have moved over the decades and not just from eastern cities. Sticking with just the N.F.L., you’ve got: […] Lions.

What? The Lions’ only move between cities was in the 30s, from a small town in southern Ohio to Detroit. The town is positively tiny and I had no idea where it even was until a few minutes ago even though I knew that’s where the Lions originated. It’s not particularly interesting that a team moved out of a very small town to a major city. Lots of teams back then did that.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/50 "2020-01-30T03:07:47Z")

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> [@racepug](#):
>
> I was thinking about this just yesterday. LOTS of teams out west have moved over the decades and not just from eastern cities. Sticking with just the N.F.L., you’ve got: Raiders, Rams, Cardinals, Chargers, Chiefs, Titans, Colts, Bears, Lions. And that doesn’t include the Ravens (since, as far as the N.F.L. is concerned, that was considered to be a “new” team when Art Modell moved it from Cleveland). Lots out west, though while most N.F.L. teams that are based out west these days started out further east, not all of them did. In fact one of them (Raiders) is actually moving further east from having started in California.

Toronto, with its 7 million residents, is just across the lake and there are a fair number of Bills fans in that area. I’ve known several Torontonians who’ve called themselves Bills fans. I know the NFL is supposed to protect the CFL and all but if there’s a city in Canada that would be great for the NFL, it’s Toronto.

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**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/likelihood-san-diego-oakland-or-st-louis-will-ever-get-nfl-teams-again/846945/51 "2020-01-30T06:03:22Z")

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> [@glowacks](#):
>
> What? The Lions’ only move between cities was in the 30s, from a small town in southern Ohio to Detroit. The town is positively tiny and I had no idea where it even was until a few minutes ago even though I knew that’s where the Lions originated. It’s not particularly interesting that a team moved out of a very small town to a major city. Lots of teams back then did that.

Yeah ,I know the SDMB skews older, but so many of these franchise shifts are from quite a while ago and the Bears and Lions examples are from a time where there’s really not anyone left alive.

The big 4 sports in North America have been fairly stable as opposed to all the franchise shifts in the 1980s and 1990s. And most of that was driven by the constant lure of Los Angeles for the NFL which didn’t have a team despite being one of the largest cities in the USA. So you end up with the Rams moving back and the Chargers solving their stadium situation by piggybacking. On top of that, pro sports admit that gambling exists and can have teams in Las Vegas.

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