SPORTS
Which urban areas have NFL teams? Which ones don’t? Use today’s MapMaker Interactive to find out!
Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources, including a link to today’s MapMaker Interactive and our poll!
Discussion Ideas
- Is Los Angeles the biggest city in the U.S. without an NFL club? Use today’s MapMaker Interactive for some help!
- Yes. Los Angeles is the second-largest city in the country, but has not had an NFL team since 1995.
- Other major urban areas without an NFL club include Sacramento and San Jose, California; Portland, Oregon, Las Vegas, Nevada; San Antonio, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Orlando, Florida; Providence, Rhode Island; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- Yes. Los Angeles is the second-largest city in the country, but has not had an NFL team since 1995.
- According to the Los Angeles Times, businessman Bob Iger is leading an effort to bring both the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers to the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Are any other urban areas home to two NFL teams? Use today’s MapMaker Interactive for some help!
- Yes. New York is home to both the New York Giants and the New York Jets, while the San Francisco Bay Area is home to both the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders (for now).
- What is the process for moving a team?
- Lots of business negotiation between current and prospective owners, mostly, and the deal must be approved by three-quarters of NFL member clubs.
- Learn more about the NFL and its membership with the Constitution and Bylaws of the National Football League.
- Lots of business negotiation between current and prospective owners, mostly, and the deal must be approved by three-quarters of NFL member clubs.
- Acquiring the Raiders and the Chargers would mean the teams themselves would have to move. Have NFL teams ever moved before?
- Yes, all the time. In fact, Los Angeles has been home to both the Raiders and the Chargers before.
- Los Angeles Rams: The Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles in 1946. They moved to St. Louis in 1994.
- Los Angeles Chargers: The Los Angeles Chargers moved to San Diego in 1961, after a single season in L.A.
- Los Angeles Raiders: The Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles in 1982, and moved back to Oakland in 1995.
- L.A.’s storied and stormy history with the NFL is clear compared with the history of the Indianapolis Colts. Although all but the last two are considered discrete franchises, some form of the team made these moves:
- Dayton Triangles (1913)
- Brooklyn Dodgers (1930)
- Brooklyn Tigers (1944)
- Boston Yanks (1945)
- New York Yanks (1950)
- Dallas Texans (1951) (The team was organized out of Hershey, Pennsylvania, for part of the season)
- Baltimore Colts (1953)
- Indianapolis Colts (1984) (The marching band stayed in Baltimore.)
- Yes, all the time. In fact, Los Angeles has been home to both the Raiders and the Chargers before.
TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT
Los Angeles Times: Disney CEO Bob Iger aims to bring an NFL team back to professional-football-starved L.A.
Nat Geo: NFL in the USA map
Ragtyme Sports: How to Get from Dayton to Indianapolis by way of Brooklyn, Boston, New York, Dallas, Hershey, and Baltimore
(extra credit!) NFL: Constitution and Bylaws of the National Football League
San Antonio is home to 2.5 million people and is the 32nd largest tv market according to Nielsen. It is more than capable of supporting a team. When you include nearby Austin which is just minutes away the population base ballons to 4.5 million making the market among the largest. The NFL cannot overlook S.A. Anymore.