I have heard it said that the league wants TWO teams in Los Angeles. Well, I remember how well THAT worked out, years ago. As far as I am concerned, let them have two expansion teams and call it good. If they want the NFL back in Los Angeles, let the city prove it without stealing a team from a city that doesn't deserve to lose their franchise. LINK
I don't see how they can do 34 teams. An extra team in both conference will put 17 teams on each side, and 17 won't break down into even divisions. If they add two teams in one conference, then they won't have a balanced league.
They could put a team in LA to take advantage of the media market, but another Cali team would cut into the fan bases of teams already there. If they want more teams they should find places with large enough populations to draw from, large enough areas to put a stadium, and fan bases that don't already have allegiances. They could put 1 in Virginia....they could support it with Richmond, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News, Arlington, and Virginia Beach...without cutting too deep into B-More and DC fan bases. Nevada could handle a team with Vegas, Reno, and Henderson, but the gambling and hookers might be a bit much. Kentucky could handle a team with Louisville and Lexington both in the top 65 in the nation in population. Louisville is actually bigger and is more heavily populated than Detroit, B-More, Seattle, Denver, KC, Atlanta, and Miami which all support NFL teams. It's urban centers and surrounding areas are sophisticated enough to handle a team, operating a bit like east coast cities with typical suburban sprawl. Only drawback is that KY is a basketball state to the bone....that is on any day besides the first Saturday in May. Oklahoma has 2 cities in the top 50 in population (OK City, Tulsa) and is more of a football state than Kentucky....but the populations are very rural outside of the cities. Nebraska with Omaha and Lincoln could probably handle it, but again....very rural...which doesn't particularly take away from football itself, but the economic support without many major media options.....is going to turn off many potential investors. So there are solid options without going to LA and without leeching fans of established teams, but there will be some complications no matter where they go.
I agree. I think they should go to 36 teams if they are set on expansion. It will water down the talent in the league, but they can easily go back to the 2 conference-3 division (east/west/central) format with 6 teams in each division. 3 division winners get a bye with 1 wildcard playoff game between the #4 and #5 teams in the conference.
There's been talk of the Bills moving to Toronto, especially since they already play 1 home game a year there. What about a team in Canada? Or adding a team in Mexico city? I don't understand the desire for a London team when we have international options for the league much much closer to home for expansion.
