NFL expansion would be a huge mistake
By Phil Watson
Two More Markets Required
In order for expansion to work in a balanced way, the NFL would not just need to go to London and Los Angeles, but would need to go to 36 teams at some point in the near future.
Where do those other two markets come from? Does the European invasion continue? Are there other cities in America that one looks at and immediately thinks, “The only thing this place is missing is an NFL team”?
It’s hard to find two viable markets in the U.S. There are some with potential, but they all have potentially fatal flaws.
San Antonio has the facility, the Alamodome, but it’s already 20 years old and owners these days seem to have a thing about playing in stadiums that weren’t built yesterday. But San Antonio is in Texas, which is Dallas Cowboys country, an uphill swim the Houston Texans have been involved with for more than a decade now.
Orlando’s Gator Bowl (or whatever corporate name the stadium now has) could potentially house an NFL team. But Florida already has three teams and none of them are going great guns in terms of attendance and fan interest.
Portland, Ore., might have the size, but it would have to build the stadium, something that has proven to be tough sledding in a climate increasingly hostile to using taxpayer funds to pay for billionaires’ places to host their modern-day gladiators of the gridiron.
And then there’s Las Vegas.
On the surface, Las Vegas would appear to be perfect. There’s plenty of room to build, there’s plenty of population to support a team—or at least enough transplants to support the teams coming in while the locals get used to supporting their own team.
And there’s all of the major sports books in America, all right there.
The potential for abuse is mind-boggling. Gambling and the NFL have been joined at the hip for decades—why do you think newspapers used to print the betting lines?—but actually plunking a franchise in Las Vegas would be a line it is doubtful the NFL would want to cross.
It’s one thing to be peripherally in business with gamblers. It’s another to just pack up your stuff and move in with them.