Summer Series Part III: The Future of Team Relocation

07/31/2024 Summer Series Part III: The Future of Team Relocation

By: Marissa Kasch

The Future of Team Relocations in Sports

Read Part 1 | Read Part II

Through this series, we’ve seen how team relocation can result in heartbreak for some and new hope for others. It can revitalize cities or leave them in turmoil.

In some cases, like the A’s, the move is expected by fans and analysts far in advance. In other cases, like the Colts, the move is so sudden that it stuns the entire sports world. So, what does the future hold for team relocation? Sure, money talks, but you probably don’t need to worry about your team being stripped from you by the time you wake up tomorrow morning. 

Team relocation has a long history that set the precedent for future moves. Add an influx of money across different cities, and now here we are with beloved teams constantly in transit. Unfortunately, the historical roots a team has in a city are seldom taken into consideration. For these teams and managers, relocation is about maximizing profits in a more favorable city and economy. It’s likely this trend is here to stay based on the movement we’ve seen in the past five years and plans for future moves. 

Viva Las Vegas

Las Vegas has become a hotspot for financially struggling teams due to its booming economy, scenic stadiums and consistent tourism. In the past, many teams avoided Vegas because of its direct connection to gambling and its reputation as Sin City. Now, however, sports gambling is not only legal in most states, it’s promoted. Stadiums are now complete with sportsbooks, and in-game commercials are dominated by advertisements for different sports-betting outlets. What better time and what better place to relocate than Las Vegas? The Golden Knights started the Vegas trend as an expansion team back in 2017 before other leagues started to follow suit. The Aces were the next team to make the move south from Seattle in 2018. Then, in 2020, the Raiders made their move from Oakland. When things worked out for the Raiders, their Oakland neighbors decided to follow them. After all their efforts to stay in the Bay Area fell short, the A’s finally got unanimous approval to move to Las Vegas. The city already has teams from the NFL, WNBA and NHL. With the MLB coming soon, Vegas will house teams from most major professional sports leagues, excluding the NBA. However, there have been talks among NBA players, specifically LeBron James, about an NBA expansion team housed in Vegas.

The Next Big Thing

Vegas is one extreme. It’s where everybody wants to relocate, and it will likely have representation from every major league in the near future. On the other hand, there are cities begging to expand sports franchises the same way Vegas has. It’s the place to be right now, but at this rate, it can’t host every team that wants to move. So, which city will be next to take in all the teams searching for a new home? 

Historically, relocation follows somewhat of a pattern. At its beginning, many teams moved to San Diego or Los Angeles around the same time. Then, many teams in the Midwest swapped one nearby city for another. Now, everyone’s going to Vegas. In other words, when one team moves somewhere, it usually starts the trend for others to move into that city or the surrounding area. The one constant in the relocation pattern over the years is the allure of the west coast. The Dodgers and Giants were two of the first major relocations in sports history when they moved to California. A few years later, the Cleveland Rams became the Los Angeles Rams. After that, the Jazz moved from NOLA to Utah. And, you guessed it, now Las Vegas is set to obtain four new teams in fewer than 10 years.

So, it’s likely the new relocation city will be situated somewhere on or near the west coast. It could be Portland, known for its men’s and women’s soccer teams and the Trail Blazers. With only one major professional sports league represented, it has plenty of room for a team from the NHL, NFL or MLB to consider relocating. Seattle is also due for an NBA return since splitting with the SuperSonics in 2008. It has the Seahawks (NFL), Storm (WNBA), Kraken (NHL) and Mariners (MLB). All that’s missing is an NBA franchise. Phoenix also has room for an NHL team to round out its professional league representation alongside the Cardinals (NFL), Suns (NBA) and Diamondbacks (MLB). 

Aside from frequency, not much has changed in terms of sports relocation over the years. As always, teams follow the money and the best chances for success rather than fan loyalty or geographical history. Teams are stripped from some and gifted to others; we know how the story goes. The only difference between then and now is the response to relocation. The A’s faced some stadium boycotts and protests in response to relocating to Vegas, but aside from that, nobody was shocked by the move. When teams first started swapping cities, the team and its manager had to watch their backs for angry fans determined to keep their team in its original city. Because relocation has become so common, fans are finally coming to terms with parting from their team or supporting them from a different city. The future of relocation will most likely look a lot like the current relocation (which looks a lot like past relocation). Unless history repeats itself, the only changes will be the teams that choose to move and the cities they choose to move to.