Relocation of a professional sports franchise is a lot more rare now than it was in the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000s.
In the 21st century alone, only three franchises have relocated: The St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles in 2016, the San Diego Chargers to LA in 2017 and the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas in 2020.
Die-hard football fans know all about the many NFL relocations over the league’s history. But did you know that there have been many instances where a relocation of a specific franchise to a certain city was close to happening…only to fall through?
In fact, occasions of failed NFL relocations have happened far more than you might think. Here are 12 such occasions that you probably didn’t know about!
Houston Oilers To Jacksonville
All’s well that ends well, right? Jacksonville got its Jaguars as an expansion franchise in 1995. The Oilers relocated to Nashville to become the Tennessee Titans. Houston got its team back when the expansion Texans’ franchise was born in 2002.And all three just so happen to play in the AFC South division alongside the Indianapolis Colts. Everyone’s happy!
But way-back-when, the late Oilers/Titans owner in Bud Adams actually had his eye on Duval County as a relocation for the Houston franchise.
In 1987, Adams sought $115.2 million over a 10-year period from Jacksonville officials if he were to move the franchise. Adams was displeased with the Oilers’ home venue, the Astrodome, and he sought renovations as well as more seating.
But Texas officials gave in and offered to give the necessary funds to modernize the Astrodome, allowing the Oilers to stay in the big H. The Oilers would play there until 1996 before relocating to Tennessee in 1997.
Buffalo Bills To Seattle
In 1971, Buffalo BIlls’ owner Ralph Wilson Jr. — you guessed it — sought an up-to-date stadium for his football team.
War Memorial Stadium, the Bills’ first home, was outdated and needed serious upgrades. Wilson spoke with Seattle officials and expressed keenness to move the football club there,
noting that Emerald City was his desired preference. Memphis and Tampa Bay also had interest in landing the Bills’ franchise.
But luckily for Bills Mafia, city officials gave in and agreed to build a new stadium. Rich Stadium opened — now known as Highmark Stadium — opened its door in 1973. It will remain the Bills’ home until their new stadium is completed. The new one is expected to be ready for the 2026 season.
Oh, and Seattle wound up being granted the expansion Seahawks franchise in 1976. So again, everyone ended up quite content. Thank you very much!
Minnesota Vikings To Los Angeles
Speculation about the Vikings potentially moving ramped up in 2010 as team and state officials worked tirelessly to secure a new stadium. The roof for the outdated Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome collapsed late in the 2010 season, and that was the final straw.
Two groups approached the Vikings about relocating the team to Los Angeles. In April 2012, Minnesota senator Julie Rosen admitted that they spoke to folks in LA, admitting it was an “open market”, too.
The Vikings wound up securing a deal on a new stadium that would open in the 2016 season. They would play three more seasons in the Metrodome before spending the 2014 and ‘15 campaigns at TCF Bank Stadium.
Finally, US Bank Stadium opened its doors in 2016 — and Minnesotans could breathe a sigh of relief forever. They may have lost the Lakers to Los Angeles, but not the Vikings, who wound up staying in the Gopher State.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers To Cleveland
Art Modell broke the hearts of Cleveland when he relocated the once-proud Browns franchise to Baltimore in 1996 – and the franchise was rebranded as the Ravens.
With Cleveland lacking a football team, several franchises threatened relocation there. Among them: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In 1996, it was reported that talks about moving the Bucs to Cleveland were “heating up”. Once again, the central issue was the Bucs’ desire for a new stadium. The Associated Press also reported that then-Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer and city officials in Cleveland had “intensified.”
In another case of “all’s well that ends well”, the Bucs eventually got a new stadium — Raymond James Stadium — which opened its doors in 1997. The Cleveland Browns’ franchise was officially reactivated and returned to the league in 1999.
Los Angeles Rams To Hartford
The first half of the ‘90s saw the Los Angeles Rams’ franchise engaged in never-ending discussions about relocation. Of course, the franchise wound up moving to St. Louis in 1995 — where they’d play for 21 years before relocating to LA.
Hartford, Connecticut was on the list of contenders to get the Rams. Hartford made a proposal to the organization, but the state of Connecticut simply couldn’t compete with the appeal that St. Louis had to offer.
St. Louis was a bigger market, and it kept divisional alignment simple for the NFL. So Hartford, home to the NHL’s Hartford Whalers at the time, struck out on landing the Rams. It was extra hard to swallow when the Whalers relocated to Raleigh to become the Carolina Hurricanes.
Indianapolis Colts To Los Angeles
Then-Colts owner Robert Irsay became public enemy No. 1 in Baltimore when he relocated the historic football franchise to Indianapolis in 1984. Imagine if the Colts had to move less than two decades later…again?!
In 2002, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that the Colts could’ve been moving to Los Angeles as early as 2003. Discussions on a new stadium with Indianapolis officials grew tense, and owner Jim Irsay was spotted in San Fernando Valley as the rumors began to escalate.
And as later noted by veteran Colts reporter Bob Kravitz, Irsay became more keen on staying in Indianapolis once he saw outlines for a new stadium. Finally, after tense talks, the Colts were given the green light for a new venue — and Lucas Oil Stadium opened its doors in 2008.
New England Patriots To St. Louis
In 1992, St. Louis native and businessman James Orthwein purchased the struggling New England Patriots franchise from Victor Kiam. Orthwein had one simple goal: Relocate the Patriots to St. Louis and change the name to “Stallions.”
St. Louis had just lost its NFL’s Cardinals to Arizona a few years later. Most of it was in motion, but there was one last hiccup: Robert Kraft owned the Patriots’ home venue of Foxboro Stadium, and the team’s lease there wouldn’t run up until 2001.
Orthwein tried buying out the lease on Foxboro Stadium, but Kraft refused. Orthwein simply had no option but to sell the team to Kraft. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Kraft’s loyalty to New England turned out to be one of the ultimate turning points in American sports history. You folks in the region owe this man a LOT.
St. Louis Cardinals To Atlanta
Before the Cardinals relocated to Phoenix, and before they were rebranded as the “Arizona Cardinals”, they played in St. Louis. And before that, the franchise was based in Chicago.
The Cardinals played in St. Louis from 1960 to 1987, but they were actually close to leaving Missouri two decades earlier.
Owner Bill Bidwill was frustrated with the delays on the construction of Busch Memorial Stadium. On top of that, attendance was an ongoing problem within the first few years of the team’s move here.
Bidwill’s brother, Charles, later admitted that Atlanta proposed an enticing offer about relocating the franchise. The Milwaukee Braves of Major League Baseball were about to relocate to Atlanta, so it made sense to put an MLB team there.
But the Bidwills eventually played nice and agreed to a) stay in St. Louis and b) play at Busch Memorial Stadium. As for Atlanta, there was no reason to shed tears. Its current NFL team, the Falcons, joined the NFL in 1966.
Seattle Seahawks To Los Angeles
Among all the threats NFL owners have made about moving a team to Los Angeles, the Seahawks were actually this-close to moving.
In 1996, then-Seahawks owner Ken Behring detailed plans to move the team to LA, where they’d play at the Anaheim Angels’ venue of Angel Stadium.
Behring had a strange reason for wanting to move the franchise: He feared their home venue, the Kingdome, would be destroyed by an earthquake. You don’t have to be a genius to know that Los Angeles is far more prone to earthquakes than Emerald City, though.
Players were even going down to Los Angeles for training. However, the NFL disagreed with Behring’s stance and threatened to fine him $500,000 per day until he brought his team back up north.
Behring decided to do the right thing by giving up and selling the team to Seattle native and billionaire Paul Allen, whose leadership and hands-off approach helped turn the Seahawks into a top NFL franchise.
Philadelphia Eagles To Phoenix
Historically speaking, the Arizona Cardinals might be America’s saddest professional sports franchise. Historically speaking, the Eagles — a team you either love or hate with a passion — have been a consistent winner.
So how funny is it now to think that once upon a time, the Eagles were close to relocating to The Desert?
Before Phoenix acquired the Cardinals from St. Louis in 1988, there was a push for the city to land the Eagles. Then-owner Leonard Tose accumulated tens of millions of dollars in debt and eyed a move to Phoenix,
Just as the Eagles seemed close to moving, then-Philadelphia mayor Wilson Goode reached a last-second agreement with Tose: They would restructure the club’s home venue of Veteran’s Stadium and add luxury suites to increase club revenue.
In 1985, Tose sold the team to Norman Braman and the latter’s brother-in-law, Ed Leibowitz. And the fans of Philly haven’t had to break a sweat about potentially losing their team ever since.
Washington To Dallas
Given the intense rivalry and storied history between these two NFC East clubs, it’s crazy to think that Washington’s NFL team once moved to Big D before the Cowboys were born.
But as WWE icon Kurt Angle said, “Oh, it’s true. It’s damn true.”
Clint Murchison Jr., who made a fortune in the oil industry, kept his eyes out for the opportunity to buy and relocate an NFL team to Dallas. Apparently, then-Washington owner George Preston Marshall reached an agreement to sell the team to Murchison Jr. It was even said that Murchison Jr. had a $600,000 check ready for Marshall.
There was a strange aspect that broke the deal, though: Marshall was to stay on and run the team for five more years following the sale to Murchison Jr. The latter initially agreed, but he backed off when Marshall later stated he wanted control for 10 years.
Nonetheless, Murchison Jr.’s persistence finally paid off. The NFL awarded Dallas an expansion franchise, and the Cowboys joined the league in 1960.
And the rivalry between Washington and Dallas escalated from there.
New England Patriots To Hartford
During the 1998 season, then-Connecticut Governor John Rowland announced that the New England Patriots were relocating to Hartford. Kraft was optimistic that the new downtown stadium in Hartford would be completed by 2001, but some issues set the date back to 2003.
Additional concerns and obstacles came up regarding the construction of the stadium. On top of that, Rowland made the mistake of allowing the agreement with Kraft to contain out clauses.
Kraft wrote a letter to Rowland expressing concern that the timeline for the new stadium went from 2001 to ‘03. The Patriots backed out of their deal with Hartford officials and instead reached an agreement to build a new stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts — keeping the team in The Old Colony State after all.
And the Patriots, of course, would go on to become the NFL’s model franchise at the turn of the century. In 2000, Kraft hired Bill Belichick to serve as his new head coach. That same year, the team used a sixth-round pick — 199th overall – on some nobody named Tom Brady.
And the rest, as they say, is history. Over the next 19 years, the Patriots won nine AFC Championships and a whopping six Super Bowl championships. They recorded winning seasons every year from 2001 to 2019, only seeing the streak end after Brady left in 2020.
In other words, Kraft’s decision to keep the Patriots in Massachusetts worked out just fine.
