Expansion team

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. This sometimes results in the payment of an expansion fee to the league by the new team.

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 30-team membership. In the context of MLB, the term "expansion team" is also used to refer to any of the 14 teams enfranchised in the second half of the 20th century.

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 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 to be the best possibility for a brand new NFL team and Toronto as a second choice. The European Super League has added teams from France and Wales to cover a great demographic spread.

List of expansion teams in history

1890s

1896

Australian FL: VFL

• Melbourne
• South Melbourne (now Sydney Swans)
• Fitzroy (Amalgamated Bris 1997)
• Essendon
• Geelong
• Carlton
• St Kilda
• Collingwood

1899

CC:

• Worcestershire CCC

1900s

1905

CC:

• Northamptonshire CCC

1908

Australian FL:

• Richmond FC
• University

1910s

1910

NSWRL

• Annandale

1920s

1920

NSWRL

• University

1921

NSWRL

• St. George Dragons

1922

:CC

• Glamorgan CCC

1924

NHL

• Boston Bruins
• Montreal Maroons

1925

Australin FL:

• North Melbourne
• Hawthorn
• Footscray (now Western Bulldogs)

1925

NHL

• Pittsburgh Pirates
• New York Americans

1926

NHL

• Detroit Cougars
• Chicago Black Hawks
• New York Rangers

1930s

1933

NFL

• Cincinnati Reds (now defunct)
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Pittsburgh Pirates (now Steelers)

1935

NSWRL

• Canterbury-Bankstown

1940s

1947

NSWRL

• Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
• Parramatta Eels

1960s

1960

NFL:

• Dallas Cowboys

1961

MLB:

• Los Angeles Angels (now Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)
• Washington Senators (now Texas Rangers)

NBA:

• Chicago Packers (now Washington Wizards)

NFL:

• Minnesota Vikings

1962

MLB:

• Houston Colt .45s (now Houston Astros)
• New York Mets

1966

NBA:

• Chicago Bulls

NFL:

• Atlanta Falcons

American Football League:

• Miami Dolphins

1967

NBA:

• San Diego Rockets (now Houston Rockets)
• Seattle SuperSonics

NFL:

• New Orleans Saints

NHL:

• Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars)
• Los Angeles Kings
• Oakland Seals (defunct)
• Philadelphia Flyers
• Pittsburgh Penguins
• St. Louis Blues

NSWRL

• Penrith Panthers
• Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

1968

NBA:

• Milwaukee Bucks
• Phoenix Suns

AFL:

• Cincinnati Bengals

1969

MLB:

• Montreal Expos (now Washington Nationals)
• San Diego Padres
• Kansas City Royals
• Seattle Pilots (now Milwaukee Brewers)

1970s

1970

NBA:

• Buffalo Braves (now Los Angeles Clippers)
• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Portland Trail Blazers

NHL:

• Buffalo Sabres
• Vancouver Canucks

1972

ABA:

• San Diego Conquistadors

NHL:

• Atlanta Flames (now Calgary Flames)
• New York Islanders

1974

NBA:

• New Orleans Jazz (now Utah Jazz)

NHL:

• Kansas City Scouts (now New Jersey Devils)
• Washington Capitals

1976

NFL:

• Seattle Seahawks
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1977

MLB:

• Seattle Mariners
• Toronto Blue Jays

1978

PBA:

• Filmanbank Bankers

1979

PBA:

• Gilbey's Gin

1980s

1980

NBA:

• Dallas Mavericks

PBA:

• CDCP Shippers

1981

Australian FL:

• Sydney Swans (originally South Melbourne)

1982

NSWRL

• Canberra Raiders
• Illawarra Steelers

1983

PBA:

• Manhattan

1984

PBA:

• Manila Beer

1985

PBA:

• Shell Azordin Bugbusters

1986

PBA:

• Alaska Aces

1987

Australian FL:

• Brisbane Bears(joined with Fitzroy in 1996 to form Brisbane Lions)
• West Coast Eagles

1988

NBA:

• Charlotte Hornets (now New Orleans Hornets)
• Miami Heat

NSWRL:

• Newcastle Knights
• Brisbane Broncos
• Gold Coast-Tweed Giants

PBA:

• Purefoods

1989

NBA:

• Minnesota Timberwolves
• Orlando Magic

NLL:

• Detroit Turbos
• New England Blazers

1990s

1990

PBA:

• Sunkist Orange Juicers

1991

NHL:

• San Jose Sharks - technically the product of a dissolved merger between the Oakland Seals/Cleveland Barons 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.

AFL:

• Adelaide Crows

1992

CC:

• Durham CCC

NHL:

• Ottawa Senators
• Tampa Bay Lightning

NLL:

• Buffalo Bandits

1993

MLB:

• Colorado Rockies
• Florida Marlins

NHL:

• Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (now Anaheim Ducks)
• Florida Panthers

PBA:

• Sta. Lucia Realtors

1995

NBA:

• Toronto Raptors
• Vancouver Grizzlies (now Memphis Grizzlies)

NFL:

• Carolina Panthers
• Jacksonville Jaguars

NLL:

• Rochester Knighthawks

ARL

• Auckland Warriors
• North Queensland Cowboys
• South Queensland Crushers
• Western Reds

AFL:

• Fremantle Dockers

1996

NFL:

• Baltimore Ravens - technically a new franchise although it maintained the roster of the Cleveland Browns, whose franchise was suspended until 1999.

PBA:

• Mobiline Cellulars

NLL:

• Charlotte Cobras

1997

Super League:

• Hunter Mariners
• Adelaide Rams

AFL:

• Brisbane Lions (technically not an expansion team more a amalgamated team, from Brisbane Bears joined in 1987 and Fitzroy lions Joined in 1896)
• Port Adelaide Power (technically not an expansion team, as the Port Adelaide Football Club was formed in 1870 in the SANFL which is a different League)

WAFL:

• Peel Thunder

1998

MLB:

• Arizona Diamondbacks
• Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now Tampa Bay Rays)

NHL:

• Nashville Predators

MLS:

• Chicago Fire
• Miami Fusion

NRL

• Melbourne Storm

VFL

• Bendigo Bombers

1999

NHL:

• Atlanta Thrashers

NFL:

• 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.

PBA:

• Tanduay Rhum Masters

2000s

2000

NHL:

• Columbus Blue Jackets
• Minnesota Wild

NLL:

• Albany Attack

PBA:

• Batang Red Bull Energy Kings

NRL:

• Northern Eagles
• Wests Tigers

2001

NLL:

• Columbus Landsharks

VFL:

• Tasmanian Devils

2002

CFL:

• Ottawa Renegades

NLL:

• Calgary Roughnecks
• Montreal Express
• New Jersey Storm
• Vancouver Ravens

PBA:

• FedEx Express
• Coca-Cola Tigers

NFL:

• Houston Texans

2003

WHL:

• Everett Silvertips

2004

NBA:

• Charlotte Bobcats

2005

MLS:

• Real Salt Lake
• CD Chivas USA

NLL:

• Minnesota Swarm

QMJHL:

• St. John's Fog Devils
• Saint John Sea Dogs

2006

NTFL:

• Tiwi Bombers

Super 14:

• Cheetahs
• Western Force

MLS:

• Houston Dynamo (though they maintained the roster of the San Jose Earthquakes)

NLL:

• Edmonton Rush
• Portland Lumberjax

WHL:

• Chilliwack Bruins

Super League:

• Catalans Dragons — 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.

PBA:

• Welcoat Dragons (from the PBL, note that the promotion and relegation system was not used .)

MLL:

• Chicago Machine
• Denver Outlaws
• Los Angeles Riptide
• San Francisco Dragons

2007

New South Wales Cup:

• Auckland Lions

A-League:

• Wellington Phoenix

NRL:

• Gold Coast Titans

NBL:

• South Dragons
• Singapore Slingers

MLS:

• Toronto FC

NLL:

• Chicago Shamrox
• New York Titans

2008

Jim Beam Cup:

• W.A. Reds

Queensland Cup:

• Mackay Cutters
• Northern Pride

MLS:

• San Jose Earthquakes

NBA:

• Oklahoma City Thunder

WNBA:

• Atlanta Dream

2009

A-League:

• Gold Coast A-League franchise

MLS:

• Seattle Sounders FC

Super League:

• Celtic Crusaders
• Salford City Reds

2010

MLS:

• Philadelphia MLS team

2011

AFL:

• GC17