# Longest continuous NA non-minor league NHL, NBA, CFL, MLS or “farm team” franchise

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-continuous-na-non-minor-league-nhl-nba-cfl-mls-or-farm-team-franchise/830168>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [February 25, 2019, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-continuous-na-non-minor-league-nhl-nba-cfl-mls-or-farm-team-franchise/830168 "2019-02-25T08:59:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-continuous-na-non-minor-league-nhl-nba-cfl-mls-or-farm-team-franchise/830168/41 "2019-03-05T20:11:13Z")

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> [@OldGuy](#):
>
> The Toronto Argonauts were not pro until much later, correct?
> 
> OTOH the Chicago White Stockings, founded in 1870, are the same organization that is now known as the Chicago Cubs and has always been professional.

But there was a gap in the time they played. After the Chicago Fire, they didn’t play for a few years.

The Montreal Canadiens were formed in 1909.

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**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-continuous-na-non-minor-league-nhl-nba-cfl-mls-or-farm-team-franchise/830168/42 "2019-03-05T20:16:24Z")

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> [@Omniscient](#):
>
> What I think the OP is asking is what’s the oldest team that’s a member of a long running independent professional sports league that is not one of the “big 5”.
> 
> The best answer I have there is probably one of the surviving teams from the [ABA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Basketball_Association). They only existed as a independent league for 9 seasons, but succeeded by forcing a merger with the still young-at-the-time NBA. They didn’t last that long as an independent league but graduated as much as one can.
> 
> Pretty much the only way a team can last a long time as an independent league is to eventually become a “big league”.

The Indianapolis (Baltimore) Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Ravens (Cleveland Browns) were original members of the All-America Football Conference, which began in 1945.

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-continuous-na-non-minor-league-nhl-nba-cfl-mls-or-farm-team-franchise/830168/43 "2019-03-05T20:30:34Z")

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> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#):
>
> The Indianapolis (Baltimore) Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Ravens (Cleveland Browns) were original members of the All-America Football Conference, which began in 1945.

While there was, indeed, a team called the Baltimore Colts in the AAFC (which actually originated as the Miami Seahawks in 1946, then reorganized under new ownership as the Colts for 1947), they only played one season in the NFL (1950) before folding.

The Indianapolis (formerly Baltimore) Colts franchise only traces its official history back to 1953, when the city was awarded a new NFL franchise. They took the name of the earlier team (and wound up with many of the players from the 1952 Dallas Texans, which also folded), but the current Colts franchise isn’t officially considered to be a continuation of either of those prior teams.

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