From the “We-Have-A-Sports-Section?” Department
Independent Sources points me to a story over at The Economist, regarding the lack of Football Teams in the second-largest city in the United States.
Think About this:
- Missouri has two NFL teams.
- Ohio has two teams
- New Jersey has two NFL teams.
- New York State only has one NFL team (the one in Buffalo) [So Technically, the largest city in the United States doesn't have an NFL Team...]
- California has 2 Teams, neither in Los Angeles
The question always stuck in my head, once upon a time, L.A. had two NFL Teams, now there are zero. (Granted, one of those teams was the hated-Oakland-Raiders, but still…
The Economist Offers an answer:
Emphasis Mine:
Like any good syndicate, the NFL under Mr Tagliabue has also mastered politics. Mr Vrooman points out that the league likes to leave one prominent city without a football franchise, “like an empty seat in musical chairs”, so that teams in other cities can threaten to move if they do not get their way. This invariably prompts state and local governments to contribute public money to help teams that replace old stadiums with new ones. Los Angeles residents have been scratching their heads about why the country’s second-largest city has had no football team since 1994. But the NFL has made far more money from new stadiums that have been built using Los Angeles as a threat, says Mr Vrooman, than it could have made by actually putting a team there. There is a lesson in all this for Mr Tagliabue’s successor: competition is nice, but if you want it to be profitable, it helps to write your own rules.
Read the rest of the article, its quite fond of the NFL as a business practice.
But, this touches a nerve of mine. Particullarly around the Baltimore Ravens.
You remember the Cleveland Browns, right? No, not the expansion team, the Original Cleveland Browns. They are now called the Baltimore Ravens.
You see, this was a case of Browns owner, Art Model (The most hated man in football) vs. the City of Cleveland (proabably one of the greatest fan bases in the NFL. – Who can forget their first experience (Live or otherwise) with the Dawg Pound?)
So for money, Art Model ripped his team away from his beloved fans and transplanted them in Baltimore, and a new stadium.
Cleveland, and much of the rest of the NFL, was devistated.
Granted, my beloved Eagles have occasionally threatened to move to Jersey (giving them Three teams?) but it never happened. (And The Eagles got a new stadium out of the deal). I guess this happens a lot around the league, but is it a good thing?
May 2, 2006 at 12:18 PM |
Wow. I hadn’t heard that before… but I firmly believe Paul Tagliabue is as much a genius as Alan Greenspan. I don’t like when teams move. But it happend rarely. Less often than the much more poorly run NBA. And it’s part of a free-market economy.
Dear lord Jeremy… you of all people should be in favor of this!
How do conservative reconcile those two sides of themselves by the way? Wanting things to stay the same, yet promoting a free-enterprise which thrives on change?
May 2, 2006 at 12:25 PM |
I’m more concerned about the fact that a team’s loyalty is more to their pocketbook/stadium than to the community where their fan base is.
May 2, 2006 at 2:25 PM |
Hasen’t team movement been the greatest in the NFL? Seems as if there is more movement in the NFL than all other sports combined. Recent example; Cardinals, Broncos, Ravens, Browns II. How many times did the Raiders move or am I counting the threats as actual movements?
NHL has to have the most expansion in recent history. Once up on a time, only 2 teams didn’t make it to the playoffs.
May 2, 2006 at 2:43 PM |
I might be missing some, but here is a list from recent memory:
Indianapolis Colts (were originally in Baltimore)
Arizona Cardinals (were originally in St. Louis)
LA Raiders (were orignally in Oakland)
Oakland Raiders (were prviously in LA)
Tennessee Titans (were originaly the Houston Oilers)
Baltimore Ravens (Were originaly the Cleveland Browns)
St. Louis Rams (were originally in LA)
As for expansion teams, I can only think of these in the last 20 years (When I first started paying attention to Football in 1985, there were 28 teams, now there are 32)
Jacksonville Jaguars
Carolina Panthers
Cleveland Browns II
Houston Texans
I can’t speak to the other leagues, cause I pay so little attention to them. I know that the Utah Jazz were originally in New Orleans, or something like that.
Phialdelphia used to have the 76ers, but I don’t know where they went.
May 2, 2006 at 5:46 PM |
14 of the current NBA teams have moved, but you’re right, there have been a lot of NFL team moves as well. Raider went to LA and then back again… not sure if you count that as 2 moves or a wash.
May 2, 2006 at 5:49 PM |
Well, given my list, even with the Raiders, there have been only seven moves; half of the NBA.
May 2, 2006 at 6:22 PM |
Was your comment about the Philly 76ers a poke at the productivity of the current team?
May 2, 2006 at 6:27 PM |
Yes Dad, I had to poke some fun at the Sixers. It seemed like a good opportunity.
May 9, 2006 at 2:44 PM |
The LA Lakers were orignally the Minnesota (or was it Minneapolis) Lakers. (makes much more sense)
May 9, 2006 at 3:46 PM |
Yeah… that one always baffled me until I found out about their move. LA is known for it’s lakes like Utah is known for it’s jazz. Funny thing about Utah is they now are basing all their sports franchises around the double “z” in jazz. Which makes no sense. The WNBA team is the Starzz. Blitzz and the Freezz are the soccer teams. And they have a baseball team called the Pioneerzz.
It’s just getting silly.
May 9, 2006 at 5:22 PM |
Maybe cause everything in Utah is boring?
Hense the ZZs?
Lame Joke, I know…