The last time we saw an NFL expansion team, George W. Bush was a year into his presidency, and C. J. Stroud wasn’t even a year old when the Texans joined the league in 2002. Will the league expand from 32 teams?
There’s a lot of hope and heartbreak in our list of expansion team candidates. Some of these cities haven’t ever hosted a team, and others have been repeatedly abandoned like a Detroit factory. Here are our top 10 possibilities for the next NFL expansion teams:
10. Columbus, Ohio
Columbus has history in the NFL with the Panhandles/Tigers playing seven seasons in the league during the roaring 1920s. The NFL was even headquartered in the city for over a decade before a move to Dayton.
While Columbus has the biggest population in Ohio, the Browns, Bengals, Steelers and Colts are all within a 185-mile radius, and the Ohio State Buckeyes helps to fulfil the need for football.
9. Sacramento, California
An NFL expansion team in Sacramento would only be competing with the Kings for the city’s love. Could the league really support a fourth team in California? A team in Sacramento would fill the void left by the Raiders relocation in Northern California, and the city is one of the largest media markets without an NFL team.
8. Toronto, Canada
There’s a big reason why there isn’t an NFL team in Toronto – lack of a suitable stadium. The 52,000-seat Rogers Center would need considerable renovations or a new stadium to be built. This is one of those situations of which came first: the chicken or the egg?
The Bills Toronto Series flunked in 2013, but that’s because Toronto’s NFL fans are over the Buffalo Bills. They’d rather see their own team in what is the biggest untapped market in both America and Canada.
7. St. Louis, Missouri
Ah, here we go. St Louis, abandoned like a Detroit factory after 21 years of production. When the Rams relocated to Los Angeles in 2016 it left a bitter taste for football fans in Missouri. The Rams left St Louis over money as the city couldn’t finance a top-tier stadium which forced owner Stan Kroenke to relocate to LA.
It brought back painful memories for fans of the St. Louis Cardinals, who relocated to Arizona in 1988 after 28 years in the NFL. The market size is big enough to support a team, but is the city willing to fund a new stadium to attract an NFL team to St. Louis for a third time?
6. Mexico City, Mexico
Two of the largest ever crowds in NFL history were set in Mexico City during preseason games, with the record set in 1994 when 112,376 watched the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers.
With a metro population of over 22 million, Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world and could host an impressive Mexican wave for the NFL. American football is also the second most popular sport in Mexico and financially, it could be too tempting for the league to turn down.
5. London, England
Is American Football just a novelty to the English? The rumors of international NFL expansion teams and London franchise never seem to go away and it shouldn’t, with over 15 million American football fans in the UK. Expanding the league with an international NFL team would truly make the competition global but there’s the obvious logistical issues with having to travel to London.
4. Oakland, California
You can forgive Oakland football fans for being butthurt. Like St. Louis, Oakland has been abandoned twice after relocations to LA and Las Vegas. The loyalty of fans should never be questioned. Despite only four winning seasons in their second stint, and having to call the hole that was the Oakland Coliseum home, the passionate Raiders faithful still turned up.
Even in their first season in Las Vegas, almost one in seven fans were from Northern California. I don’t know how this one works though. The Raiders are now in Las Vegas and unless they relocate back, can you fathom Oakland being known by anything other than the Raiders?
3. San Diego, California
It’s here we finish the depressing tour of former NFL cities that deserve an expansion team. The Chargers were based in San Diego between 1961 to 2016 before relocating to Los Angeles following an overwhelming rejection by San Diego voters to help fund a new stadium in the city.
San Diego is making moves elsewhere however and will host the next MLS expansion team in 2025. The same question with Sacramento and Oakland needs to be asked, does California have room for a fourth team?
2. Portland, Oregon
A Portland NFL expansion team would create an intense rivalry with the Seahawks similar to the Battle of Cascadia in the MLS. Portland also has huge potential with a media market bigger than half of the NFL’s teams, and the Trail Blazers being the only major league sports team in the city. In the 1960s Portland voters rejected building the Delta Dome. Had they done so, we’d likely be talking about Seattle as a possible expansion team and not Portland.
1. San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the favorite city for an NFL expansion team. The 64,000-seat Alamodome was built in 1993 and could host a team, but it’s in need of upgrades. That will be costly, but what makes San Antonio the most viable of all possible NFL expansion teams is its metro population of over 2.5 million, and a media market bigger than Kansas City, Cincinnati and Vegas,
When adding Austin into the mix, the area has a bigger market than Seattle-Tacoma, and San Antonio is the only city in the top ten most populated cities in America not to have an NFL team. You can also imagine the intense rivalry San Antonio would create against the Cowboys and Texans, who continually push back on a third Texan team.
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Bring NFL to El Paso, Texas for Texas Leopards 2025
Eldon if I could do if for you my man I would. Maybe relocate the Titans to El Paso and call them the Texas Titans..
ew man i want the oilers back
amen, bro
What about St. Louis? I feel like they were cheated by the Rams and deserve another chance with the NFL.
St Louis seems the most likely having had success with both the Cardinals & the Rams recently.
El Paso is a dumpster city that will never have a pro or even sim pro sports team. It is the 85th largest media market in the united states. that means there is 84 better cities for a NFL to put a team like Providence Rhode Island, Tulsa Oklahoma, Little Rock Arkansas. 3 bigger cities in states that don't have a NFL at all.
Providence is Very close to Foxborough MA where the Patriots play, so I highly doubt a team would ever pop up in Providence RI.
Dude Austin and San Antonio deserve a new NFL team more than El Paso because they're bigger markets.
The 49ers play in SANTA CLARA (a crappy San Jose suburb), not San Francisco. Get your facts straight!
Sorry dude! Just changed it. That's what happens when you're writing from down under
It's Santa Clara Dick Boy not San Jose plus the whiners needed an upgrade in city hence the reason why y'all out in the South Bay.
Bahaha Dick Boy 😂 chill.
Not an issue with me. Call them the Santa Clara 49's just to be politically correct.
5. San Antonio - Unless they can shut the Cowboys up (the Texans should be easy), then San Antonio will have to settle for the XFL for time being.
4. Mexico City - Good idea.
3. Portland - I like the idea, but it could be very tough to pull off. XFL is more likely.
2. Toronto - Unless the CFL dies or you cut a gigantic paycheck to the Canadian government, then forget it.
1. Oakland - Grassroots are already underway to replace the Raiders. Don't expect them to be in Santa Clara though. The 49ers won't share, plus it defeats their purpose. Playing in Oakland, California. No doubt it's going to take years for them to show up since they'll need to replace the coliseum, and to grab a team on the chopping block. Unfortunately, they'll probably get an expansion team since I don't see a Mike Brown or the Khan's sell their teams even if they move them. On the bright side, London can get the other expansion team for the NFC East rather being stuck in say, the AFC South if they got the Jaguars.
Yo Trapper thanks for the comment! Which option would you like to see most? Personally would like to see a Canadian franchise and have a similar interest the Raptors have had on the NBA
texas has like 3 damn teams they dont need more same with california toronto and mexico city dont make sense because its called american football for a reason no other contry plays football id say portland makes sense because we dont have a team same with other states who dont have teams at all like kansas oklahoma or kentucky
Portlands ‘woke’ idenity all but put the nails in the coffin for an NFL team. Half of the town would be triggered by a tackle.
What about Columbus,Ohio or Birmingham, AL
Thanks for the suggestion Jake! I'll write up another article shortly and include those in a list of the next 5 cities deserving a relocation or expansion franchise
Birmingham sounds doable. Not sure about Columbus. They have their Buckeyes, albeit a good college program.
No San Diego?
Hi mate! Drafting an article at the moment with 5 more deserving cities which has San Diego on the list. Will post in the next couple of days
What are your thoughts on Utah? Fanatic sports followings (college, MLS, and of course the Jazz). Two stadiums that offer over 60K capacity (close to Goodell's requirement). Large corporation presence for sponsorship. Downfall is the Sunday play thing.
Hi! I just wrote another article about 5 more cities deserving a team (Columbus, Birmingham, San Diego, London and Frankfurt).
I had Salt Lake City as a possible city to add to this list but it is regarded as a smaller compared to many others.
Salt Lake citys population centre is bigger than Jacksonville, Cincinatti, Buffalo, Indianaplois, Nashville and New Orleans so there is hope I think!
I don't think Sunday games would be as much as an issue as it would have a couple decades ago.
Austin Texas has nothing we need a team we are the capital
texas has two teams already if anything the texans should move to austin
London, England. The Tottenham Hotspur stadium is ready and waiting.
As an international fan of the NFL (based in Australia) I'd love to see London with its own franchise
I like the idea of the NFL in San Antonio, I can't stand Jerry Jones, thinking he can dictate what we can do here in San Antonio, and I say we bring back the team name as our San Antonio Gunslingers
Wish you all the best for a San Antonio franchise. My favs I'd go with is either San Antonio Thunderbirds or Wings
It's obvious Jerry Jones thinks the Cowboys will lose fans if there's a new NFL team in San Antonio. San Antonio has tried to get a new NFL team for 25 years!
I'm from San Antonio and while the Alamodome may meet the league's minimum requirements, it's not going to entice any team to move there. It's ugly as hell inside and out, honestly.
It would be awesome if a new stadium could be built north of SA, perhaps around New Braunfels, to make it more of a shared stadium with the Austin market. Unfortunately I don't see New Braunfels or Comal County putting up the necessary money, but who knows what could be worked out between the various cities and counties.
But it'll probably never happen because of the Cowboys. There are a ton of Cowboys fans in SA and south Texas. I don't think many of them would change allegiances even if the Cowboys didn't block a move.
Hi D, thanks for your comment really appreciate it! I'm located down under in Australia so really appreciate the local context you provide about San Antonio.
How loyal are the Cowboy fans in SA? Would be interesting to see if they could ever jump on the back of a team in SA.