I just saw a TikTok video about it. No real facts behind it just a fun theory. Just fun to think about.
However we know they are going to a 18 game schedule soon. (Likely 2031 when the CBA is up)
And why wouldn’t they want to?
NHL expanded when they made only $100m per team
WNBA is expanding when they lose $5m per team.
The NFL makes over $750m per team!
They add 2 more weeks to the schedule. 1 more game to each team. And add 8 more teams. And 2 more playoff teams to make it an even 16.
Thats 8+ more prime time games.
And a total of 88 more regular season games total!
They would rake in the money. And thats all the higher ups care about.
Now where would these 8 teams get added.
Well for argument sake, let’s just say. USA and Canada only.
I tried to pick 8 cities that currently have major sports teams, and 2 in each region. Making it easy to add 1 more team to each division with one minor change. So heres the map.
I used logos from existing teams or from fan made concepts.
NFC North adds - STL Battlehawks
NFC East adds - TOR Blue Jays
NFC South adds - MEM Showboats
NFC West adds - SLC Outlaws
AFC East adds - MON Canadians
AFC South adds - SAN Spurs
AFC West adds - BOTH SAC Kings & CAL Flames
Meaning KC Chiefs move to the AFC North.
Schedule would be simple
8 games in the division Home & Home
5 games Inter Conference
5 Games Intra Conference
Rotating 2/3 home games in each yearly.
Rotating between all the divisions
Playoff format stays as is. Just with an added 8 seed
Agreed. At this point they’re not catching a lot more eyeballs by expanding locally, they’re only splitting up the pie more ways. Even Toronto doesn’t make a ton of sense, Montreal is probably more of an “untapped” market. I don’t know that the increase in the number of games makes up for it, especially when I expect them to increase games as things stand right now, without adding any more teams to share the money with.
I think 32 is more than enough. There is only so many players good enough for it to be high quality. Shit the Lions were signing guys off the couch last year we had so many injuries. You add 8 more teams, you need like another 600 professional players with 53 man rosters and 16 man practice squads. Would really be watering down the talent of the league.
Yeah, and they’d have to make up a whole division to make the scheduling easier. Two London teams, Berlin and maybe Munich (the Germans love their American football). The other four would ideally make up another division in the other conference, but you’d have to deal with a few years of shitty division champs making the playoffs.
St louis and san diego would need to be the first 2 added. They both got screwed. While we are at it why is dallas in the east and indy in the south? Do this add and realign these divisions the right way.
If they do this I want them to be in completely crazy places. Some in middle of no where with crazy rednecks, one in Hawaii, one in Alaska, one in the UP lol. Just to get a new type of crazy fans. I would pay so much to watch an NFL game in the UP lol.
I would add those two for that reason, and Montreal because it’s the only sorta new market they could add (Toronto and Vancouver are already chock with NFL fans due to their proximity). From there it gets tricky.
Most other American cities are utterly redundant and won’t draw enough new fans, which has to be the main reason for expansion. I don’t think adding San Antonio, Sacramento or Memphis does much for the overall pie, other than cause it to be cut into more pieces.
It also has to be someplace players want to live, so to me that rules out places like Mexico City or Rio. Maybe some place like San Juan? It’s technically part of America and close enough for pretty easy travel. Nassau? It’s closer to Miami than Tampa is.
Then there’s Europe. I’m sure a lot of players won’t want to live there due to distance - and the taxes are another issue altogether - but at least the standard of living is high. That produces some logistical nightmares scheduling-wise, but I suspect the league has had very smart people working on it for a while now.
Imagine all of the pain in the ass of California on steroids, but none of the money, population, or nice weather.
Not that all of this isn’t a long shot, but this is the least likely of all of the proposed cities.
Expanding in North America would be about net new dollars (corporate sponsors and butts in seats at games) more so than expanding the overall fan base. San Diego, St. Louis, San Antonio, and Portland would seem like the best contenders in the US.
I don’t know anything about Montreal culturally so if it’s a headache, it would be a no go. I was just trying to think of a North American city where the NFL wasn’t already king.
Net new dollars is undoubtedly a driving force but expanding the overall fan base is the best way to eventually do that imo. Of course the latter requires the sort of long-term thinking that is generally in short supply amongst sports owners, but at least the NFL has already shown remarkable foresight with the salary cap and revenue-sharing model to this point. And we know Europe is their white whale, and that is clearly an attempt at expanding the fan base. So their eyes seem to be on the prize.
No way I see them putting a team in SD not with two in LA and one that came from SD. I doubt San Antonio could support a team either. I’m curious if there is enough market size in SLC over the two above options. Would Oklahoma have a market big enough to support a NFL team or would Jerry raise to big a fuss.
