The recent announcement that the NHL is considering possible expansion again (most likely two to four teams) shows that the “Mortgage Meltdown” period for professional sports leagues in North America may finally be coming to an end and it will be business as usual again.
Until the Mortgage Meltdown occurred, professional sports leagues dwelt in their own sheltered little oyster world untroubled by “real life”.
They could shift franchises and dictate policy with the ease of an absolute monarch. Fans bowed to their every whim.
Then the Mortgage Meltdown occurred and suddenly lots of fans could no longer afford tickets, buy items with official sports logos on them, subscribe to cable tv sports stations, build expensive stadiums and arenas, and instead had to spend time worrying about feeding themselves and their families.
Today there are over 44 million people unofficially considered “poor” in the United States.
Before continuing, it is important to know that in the United States and Canada, there are nearly 60 large metropolitan cities (and increasing) that could house professional teams, some centers more than one. Though all professional leagues are currently at their maximum extent, in reality, they are only a fraction of the size they could be.
The NFL has provided a blueprint structure for all leagues to follow, at least until the 48 team mark: 2 conferences of 4 divisions. Currently each division has four teams but a six team division is certainly feasible for the future.
Until the Mortgage Meltdown occurred, it seemed inevitable that all North American sports leagues would be expanding to the 40 team mark. The economic catastrophe put such dreams on hold.
But with the NHL’s announcement that they may be considering expansion, especially with a new arena being built in Quebec City, and possibly in Seattle, Toronto, and Las Vegas, the doldrums (for North American sports leagues at least) may be coming to an end.
Let’s look at the expansion possibilities for all “big four” leagues plus soccer.
Will NHL Expansion Open the Expansion Floodgates for Other Pro Leagues?
MLS
No league has been expanding as quickly as MLS soccer. Currently at 19 teams, they are scheduled to grow to 22 before the end of the decade. They are open for business on every front, particularly in the eastern half of the United States and Canada. There are too many large North American cities without soccer to say which ones would be the best choice for expansion. Any sports investor with a realistic proposal will be welcome both in Canada and the United States.
If you want to get into the sports franchise business without too many obstacles to encounter, this is your league.
NHL
Not too surprisingly considering the recent efforts of Winnipeg and Quebec to get their teams back and strong talk in Southern Ontario and Seattle, the NHL has let a loosely kept secret out of the bag and is “unofficially” considering expansion now that it has settled its labor problem and realigned.
The only question will be by how many teams and whether they will adhere to a strict effort to balance up their conferences (two western cities or Quebec and three western cities) or will they take the best and hungriest cites no matter where they are located.
Currently Southern Ontario, Quebec, Seattle, and Las Vegas are in the running but more cities may crawl out of the woodwork. These include Portland, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and Houston (two failed candidates from the last expansion).
Hartford, another city that lost its team in the 1990s would be considered if it ever got its act together.
Best choices: Southern Ontario (Hamilton, Toronto, Oshawa, Kitchener, or London), Quebec, Seattle, Portland
Betting choices: Quebec, Seattle, Portland, Houston/Oklahoma City
NBA
It would make sense for the NBA to expand by two teams to a symmetrical 32 and then adopt an NFL realignment. And there are large NFL cities without basketball plus a return to Vancouver or other Canadian cities.
Best choices: A return to Seattle and Pittsburgh with its new arena.
Betting choices: The two best choices are the best betting choices.
MLB
Like the NBA, an expansion to a symmetrical 32 teams followed by realignment makes a lot of sense for baseball. The current situation of 15 teams in each league is awkward and means that there has to be at least one inter-league game all the time.
There are a lot NFL/NBA cities plus those in Canada without baseball so it would not be hard to find two candidates.
Best choices: A return to Montreal if they solved their stadium issue, Vancouver, Charlotte, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Portland, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis
Betting choices: Charlotte, San Antonio
NFL
The NFL could have expanded long ago but the league’s heart is fixated on the city that has spurned them and delivered the biggest slap-in-the-face insult in their history, Los Angeles.
To this day it is a deep mark of shame that the second largest market in the United States can live happily without a franchise in North America’s number one sports league.
While other NFL cities like Cleveland, Baltimore, Oakland, and St. Louis wrung their hands and wept bitter tears when their teams left town, Los Angeles merely yawned when the Rams and Raiders left.
Every other sports league including soccer can put two franchises into the Los Angeles area while the NFL cannot have even one.
But if the league looked around, there are ample cities willing to put up with its arrogance and beg for a team. To add a unique flavor to it all, there is a non-North American city, London, UK, that wants a franchise.
Assuming Los Angeles finally builds a modern stadium and gets a credible owner, the choice will be LA and somebody else. But if the league overcomes its fixation, here is the lengthy list:
London, UK, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Portland, Milwaukee, Toronto, Montreal, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Memphis, Birmingham, Sacramento, Second Chicago, Mexico City
Best choices: London, UK, San Antonio
Betting choices: San Antonio, Oklahoma City
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