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The Street.com: 5 NFL Teams That Should Just Move Already
The complete article at the link
PORTLAND, Ore. (TheStreet) -- We shouldn't be able to write this feature every year, but a changing economy and a cash-hungry collection of National Football League owners unhappy with their towns make it a bit too easy.
An NFL team hasn't moved in 16 years. Even after the Houston Oilers left the AstroDome and moved to Tennessee, however, Houston was rewarded with the Texans, Reliant Stadium and Super Bowl hosting duties in 2004 and 2017. The Oilers' move ended a three-year game of football musical chairs in which the Rams and Raiders left Los Angeles for St. Louis and Oakland, respectively, in 1995 and the Cleveland Browns found a home in Baltimore and a new life as the Ravens in 1996.
Abnormal silence and stability followed as the NFL entered its longest stretch without a franchise move since the dry spell between the Cleveland Rams' move to Los Angeles in 1946 and the Chicago Cardinals' flight to St. Louis in 1960. As the 2013 NFL season approaches, however, green shoots of stability get lost in a dandelion field of continued upheaval. The Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers are eagerly awaiting the completion of new stadiums. Buffalo Bills management got the $226 million in stadium renovations it was looking for, but will still force the team to play one home game a year in Toronto and is promising to stick around its small market for only eight more years.
Now Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank wants to replace the 22-year-old, $214 million Georgia Dome that was just renovated for $300 million five years ago. He also wants the public to cough up $300 million to $400 million for it. With the promise of a stadium in Los Angeles looming, every franchise has leverage to get what it wants and every fan base knows this year could be their team's last. Whether it's an owner dreaming of greener pastures, or a team's current home dying beneath its feet, here are just five examples of teams that may want to consider moving sooner rather than later:
An NFL team hasn't moved in 16 years. Even after the Houston Oilers left the AstroDome and moved to Tennessee, however, Houston was rewarded with the Texans, Reliant Stadium and Super Bowl hosting duties in 2004 and 2017. The Oilers' move ended a three-year game of football musical chairs in which the Rams and Raiders left Los Angeles for St. Louis and Oakland, respectively, in 1995 and the Cleveland Browns found a home in Baltimore and a new life as the Ravens in 1996.
Abnormal silence and stability followed as the NFL entered its longest stretch without a franchise move since the dry spell between the Cleveland Rams' move to Los Angeles in 1946 and the Chicago Cardinals' flight to St. Louis in 1960. As the 2013 NFL season approaches, however, green shoots of stability get lost in a dandelion field of continued upheaval. The Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers are eagerly awaiting the completion of new stadiums. Buffalo Bills management got the $226 million in stadium renovations it was looking for, but will still force the team to play one home game a year in Toronto and is promising to stick around its small market for only eight more years.
Now Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank wants to replace the 22-year-old, $214 million Georgia Dome that was just renovated for $300 million five years ago. He also wants the public to cough up $300 million to $400 million for it. With the promise of a stadium in Los Angeles looming, every franchise has leverage to get what it wants and every fan base knows this year could be their team's last. Whether it's an owner dreaming of greener pastures, or a team's current home dying beneath its feet, here are just five examples of teams that may want to consider moving sooner rather than later:
Funny how the owners always want the taxpayers to pay for these stadiums. Even funnier is how a 20+ year old stadium is now too old.
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Stupid waste of money.
