For me, I would consider adding an AFC team in Raleigh NC and an NFC franchise in Alabama or somewhere like that. Feel as though having an AFC franchise in the South would make it easier for Jets fans down here to see a game more frequently. The closest AFC franchise is Jacksonville (from Raleigh) which is 6 hours away. As for Alabama, I feel as though with such a rich college football tradition down there, it'd be interesting to see how an NFL team does.
LA is an obvious choice. I really wish London could get a franchise, but the logistics of it would be ridiculous... the only way I could imagine it happening would be if any other team playing in London had a bye week before, and the London franchise had its home and away games divided into two 8 game groupings. That setup would have massive problems in its own right, though. Toronto wouldn't be a good idea. Ontario is a vital part of the Bills market. Second to LA, then, I'd probably say Portland or Vancouver.
They need to contract 2 to 4 cities not add 2 more. LA is a conundrum. Should have the population, infrastructure and wealth to support two NFL teams but instead struggles to support one. Al Davis didn't move the Raiders back to Oakland because he wanted too he moved them back because he wanted to make money and being the second team in a smaller SF market was more profitable than being the first in LA.
We don't need to add any teams. We should move the Patriots to Mexico City and move the Cowboys to Budapest. :breakdance:
First of all, adding more franchises is a horrible idea. It waters down the on field product, and you mess with competitive balance that way. Second of all, there are no markets in the south outside of the major cities which all happen to have teams. The NFL is TV market driven, which is part of how (along with non-guaranteed contracts, the draft system, and a real cap) the sport has become so dominant financially. LA, London = gigantic markets to sell to. The metro areas of those cities are each 4 times more populated than the entire state of Alabama, and tens of times more valuable to advertisers. Third, SEC country mostly doesn't give a shit about the NFL, and rural SEC country entirely doesn't give a shit. Most of those people are in actual church, not NFL church, on Sundays and if their team isn't beating up on some cupcake like Jacksonville State four times a year, and if their boosters can't stack teams by illegally buying players, it's not fun. Stick to the Geno worship homie.
Florida has 3 teams and their fans don't show too much interest in the game. I would take one from Florida and give to Alabama and that's about it.
I agree on contracting down 2 cities, and that LA is a waste of time. however, the Raiders aren't exactly 'second team' in the bay area. They were way better than the 49ers throughout the 60's and 70's. And as good as the 49ers were in the 80's, the Raiders always had more sizzle nationally (along with a great team in those days). The bay area hated to lose them, and the fans eagerly took them back from LA. When they were in LA, they had to win over generations of Rams fans as well.... something they had already made a ton of headway on in Oakland. Davis should never have left Oakland.
The bay area doesn't really support two teams all that well. The tendency is for the good team to draw well and the team in a down cycle to draw less. The Raiders also have issues with fan volatility that they've had since the 60's with their park seen as less safe and less welcoming for families with children and particularly for visiting fans and tourists. The issues followed them down to LA and then followed them back up to Oakland again. When you have the image the Raiders have cultivated since the 60's it does tend to come back and bite you in the wallet hard when the team is not good.
Columbus, Ohio. I just feel bad for it because it is the largest city in Ohio yet it only has one real professional sports team (Columbus Blue Jackets). In reality, though, we shouldn't add any more teams.
If i was going to contract two teams at this point they'd be Jacksonville and one of the Bills, Cardinals, or Raiders. Those are the teams that are having trouble operating in the current NFL environment. The Cardinals are in a 6 year old stadium and have had declining attendance year over year despite having among the lowest ticket prices in the league. The Bills are in an economic quagmire in Buffalo and in desperate need of a new stadium that nobody can afford to build. Toronto would be better, but not much. The Raiders are clawing for fans as they always do but the market is weak for the second team in that area and they are definitely the second team at this point. The Vikings would have made this list also but the new stadium will bail them out, unless they have trouble drawing in it after a few years like the Cardinals are having now.
"Friday you have high school football. Saturday you have college football. Sunday you have church." - Bear Bryant
