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Expansion team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Dilated Peoples album, see Expansion Team (album)
- See also: Relocation of professional sports teams
An expansion team is a term used for a brand new team in a sports league. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues, but is applied to sports leagues worldwide that use a closed franchise system of league membership. The term comes from the fact that the league expands its presence into new cities.
In North America, expansion takes place in response to population growth and geographic shifts of population, driven by the resulting financial opportunity made possible by such demographic change. For example, Major League Baseball was limited to 16 teams located north and east of St. Louis, Missouri for the first half of the 20th century. During this time, the United States population doubled and expanded to the south and west. Rival interests explored the possibility of forming a rival league in these untapped markets. To forestall this possibility, one of the measures MLB took was to expand by four teams in 1961 and 1962. Over the past four decades, MLB expanded further to its current membership.
When an expansion team begins play, they are generally stocked with less talented free agents and inexperienced staffs. Additionally, prospective owners must pay extremely steep fees to the league as well as expensive start-up costs such as stadiums and facilities. As a result, most expansion teams are known for their poor play during their inaugural season. However, with increasing parity (mainly due to first pick drafts) and experience, some are known to win championships only a few years after their first season.
Most teams are considered as an expansion team usually in their first season and sometimes in their second season. A team that moves to another location and/or changes its name is generally not considered an expansion team. They are known as relocated teams. If the name changed they are known as renamed teams. The two major exceptions to this rule are the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL and the Houston Dynamo in the MLS.
Cities and/or regions with large populations that lack a team are generally regarded to be the best candidates for new teams. For example, the National Football League (NFL) has recently considered Los Angeles, CA, San Antonio, TX, and to be the best possibilities for a brand new NFL team. Each has a metropolitan population of several million people.
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- Los Angeles Kings
- Oakland Seals (now defunct, but see San Jose Sharks)
- Philadelphia Flyers
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- St. Louis Blues
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- San Jose Sharks - technically the product of a dissolved merger between the Oakland Seals/Cleveland Baron franchise and the Minnesota North Stars, which resulted in the re-activation of the Seals/Barons franchise in San Jose. Half of the 1991 North Stars moved to San Jose.
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- Baltimore Ravens - technically a new franchise although it maintained the roster of the Cleveland Browns, whose franchise was suspended until 1999.
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- Port Adelaide Power (technically not an expansion team, as the Port Adelaide Football Club was formed in 1870)
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- Cleveland Browns - technically reactivated. As part of the deal which permitted former Browns owner Art Modell to move to Baltimore, the Browns name and colors remained with Cleveland.
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- Houston Dynamo (though they maintained the roster of the San Jose Earthquakes)
- Les Catalans — Although Super League currently uses a promotion and relegation system, Les Catalans, as the only French team in the otherwise all-British competition, are assured of a place in the league through 2008.
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- Welcoat Dragons (from the PBL, note that the promotion and relegation system was not used .)
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