Post#13 » by enetric » Sun Aug 8, 2010 2:32 am
List of relocations
The following charts list movements of franchises in the modern eras of the major North American sports leagues. It does not include:
Moves within a city, which have occurred many times in all major leagues.
Short distance moves from one major city in a metro area to another major city in the same metro area. (For example, San Francisco to Oakland.)
Short-distance city-suburb moves. (For example, Los Angeles to Anaheim, both of which are in the same urban agglomeration.) However, one move within the New York metropolitan area is listed because the team involved dramatically changed its primary market within the area.
Team moves that happened before the organization joined its current league.
Moves of teams that as of 2009 no longer exist. There were many such moves in the early years of the NFL in particular.
Teams that have threatened relocation as leverage for a new stadium or arena in their current market without actually moving, as well as teams that nearly moved for other reasons not related to team dissatisfaction in a given market. (For example, The Pittsburgh Pirates nearly moving to Denver, Colorado following the Pittsburgh drug trials in 1985.)
[edit] Major League Baseball
1902: Milwaukee Brewers became the St. Louis Browns.
1903: Baltimore Orioles became the New York Highlanders and then the Yankees.
1953: Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee; this was the first MLB relocation in 50 years.
1954: St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles.
1955: Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City.
1958: Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles; New York Giants moved to San Francisco. These were the first major league teams on the West Coast; the teams moved simultaneously to facilitate travel for other NL teams.
1961: Washington Senators moved to the Twin Cities area and became the Minnesota Twins. Not wishing to alienate Washington and its powerful baseball fans, MLB granted the city a new franchise, also called the Senators.
1966: Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta.
1968: Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland.
1970: Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers. The MLB would grant Seattle a new franchise in 1977.
1972: Second Washington Senators moved to Arlington, Texas and became the Texas Rangers.
2005: Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. The Expos had split time between Montreal and San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2003 and 2004. This was the first MLB relocation in 33 years.
[edit] National Football League
1921: Decatur Staleys moved to Chicago and were renamed Chicago Bears one year later.
1934: Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans became Detroit Lions.
1937: Boston Redskins moved to Washington, D.C.
1946: Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles (first top-level professional sports franchise on the West Coast).
1960: Chicago Cardinals moved to St. Louis.
1982: Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles. The NFL refused permission for the move, but the team won the right to relocate in a court case.
1984: Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis. The team's offices were slipped out of Baltimore in the middle of the night to avoid a proposed eminent domain seizure by the state of Maryland.
Further information: Baltimore Colts relocation controversy
1988: St. Louis Cardinals moved to the Phoenix area, playing games in nearby Tempe. The team now plays in another Phoenix suburb, Glendale. The team was renamed the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.
1995: Los Angeles Raiders moved back to Oakland after 12 previous seasons, the first "return" relocation of a North American professional sports team. Also the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis. Since then, Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest market, has not hosted a NFL franchise.
Further information: History of the National Football League in Los Angeles
1996: Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Ravens. The move was one of the most controversial in major professional sports history. In response to a fan revolt and legal threats, the NFL awarded a new franchise to Cleveland in 1999, which for historical purposes is considered a continuation of the original Browns franchise.
Further information: Cleveland Browns relocation controversy
1997: Houston Oilers moved to Memphis and became the Tennessee Oilers. The team originally planned to play both 1997 and 1998 in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis before moving to their intended destination of Nashville. However, due to poor attendance, the team moved to Nashville in 1998, playing in Vanderbilt University's stadium. The team was renamed the Tennessee Titans in 1999, when their new stadium was opened. The NFL eventually awarded Houston an expansion team for 2002.
[edit] National Basketball Association
1946: Detroit Gems moved to Minneapolis and became the Lakers.
1951: Tri-Cities Blackhawks (the "Tri Cities" area is now generally referred to as "Quad Cities") moved to Milwaukee and became the Milwaukee Hawks.
1955: Milwaukee Hawks moved to St. Louis.
1957: Fort Wayne Pistons moved to Detroit.
1957: Rochester Royals moved to Cincinnati.
1960: Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles.
1962: Philadelphia Warriors moved to San Francisco.
1963: Chicago Zephyrs became the Baltimore Bullets.
1963: Syracuse Nationals became the Philadelphia 76ers.
1968: St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta.
1971: San Diego Rockets moved to Houston.
1972: Cincinnati Royals moved to a new primary home in Kansas City and a secondary home in Omaha, carrying the name Kansas City-Omaha Kings. The team ceased Omaha operations in 1975 and became known as just the Kansas City Kings.
1977: New York Nets, one year after the ABA-NBA merger, become the New Jersey Nets. Although the Nets moved within the New York metropolitan area, they dramatically changed their primary market within the area. When representing "New York", they played in Nassau County on Long Island; their primary fanbase is now in New Jersey. The Nets are scheduled to move again within the New York area in 2012, this time to Brooklyn.
1978: Buffalo Braves became the San Diego Clippers.
1979: New Orleans Jazz moved to Salt Lake City, becoming the Utah Jazz.
1984: San Diego Clippers moved to Los Angeles.
1985: Kansas City Kings moved to Sacramento.
2001: Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis, Tennesee.
2002: Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans.
2005: New Orleans Hornets moved to Oklahoma City following Hurricane Katrina. The relocation was temporary and the team moved back to New Orleans following the 2006-07 season.
Further information: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Hornets
2008: The Seattle SuperSonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Further information: Seattle SuperSonics relocation to Oklahoma City
[edit] National Hockey League
Relocations in the NHL have been unique in that most of the teams have changed their names after relocating, as opposed to keeping their identity with the old market. Only two NHL teams that relocated—both in the pre-Original Six era and in the modern era—kept their names: the Calgary Flames and the Dallas Stars. Although the Stars were previously known as the Minnesota North Stars, the team had begun to phase "North" out of the name two years before the move to Dallas.
1920: The Quebec Bulldogs moved to Hamilton, Ontario and became the Hamilton Tigers.
1925: The Hamilton Tigers franchise was dissolved and the players rights were acquired by the expansion New York Americans.
1930: The Pittsburgh Pirates moved to Philadelphia and became the Philadelphia Quakers.
1934: The Ottawa Senators moved to St. Louis and became the St. Louis Eagles.
1976: The California Golden Seals, which played their home games in Oakland, moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Barons. The Barons franchise was later absorbed into the Minnesota North Stars organization in 1978.
1976: The Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver and became the Colorado Rockies.
1980: The Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary; Atlanta was awarded an expansion team in 1999.
1982: The Colorado Rockies moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey and became the New Jersey Devils.
1993: The Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas and became the Stars; Minnesota was awarded an expansion team in 2000.
1995: The Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche.
1996: The Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix and became the Coyotes.
1997: The Hartford Whalers moved corporate offices to Raleigh, North Carolina and became the Carolina Hurricanes. For two years they played home games in Greensboro while an arena was under construction in Raleigh.
[edit] Major League Soccer
2006: San Jose Earthquakes moved to Houston and became the Houston Dynamo however the team records, logo, colors, championships and history were left in San Jose. An option for an MLS franchise was awarded to Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff in 2006 and the option was exercised in 2007. The Earthquakes resumed play in MLS in 2008 as a continuation of the previous Earthquakes franchise.
[edit] WNBA
2002: Two teams relocated following the league's 2002 season:
The Utah Starzz moved to San Antonio, becoming the San Antonio Silver Stars.
The Orlando Miracle were purchased by the Mohegan Native American tribe and moved to the tribe's Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, becoming the Connecticut Sun. This transaction is notable in that the Sun became the first WNBA team to be owned by a party other than an NBA team owner.
2009: The Detroit Shock, despite considerable success on the court in Detroit, including seven straight playoff berths and three WNBA titles, moved after the 2009 season to Tulsa, Oklahoma and now plays as the Tulsa Shock.