Top 5 cities primed to be relocation targets for NFL team
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/top-5-cities-primed-to-be-relocation-targets-for-nfl-team-025847559.html
With the NFL's biggest relocation bargaining chip off the table, the pool of NFL cities got shuffled and significantly more shallow. And as expected, it's not as sexy with Los Angeles waiting in the front of the line.
But the journey to land the NFL continues in many regions, potentially starting anew in one city that just lost a team (St. Louis) and another that appears likely to lose theirs (San Diego) in the coming weeks and months. Here's a look at the rankings for the next NFL relocation:...
2. Toronto: With a population roughly the size of Chicago, Toronto has the potential fan base that puts it in the NFL wheelhouse. And it's not a city where you have to sell the game. The Buffalo Bills' Toronto series drew solid crowds for six straight seasons, although those numbers faded as Buffalo consistently presented bad teams in the games. Much like Los Angeles, it's believed that Toronto is a front-running city that would need an owner motivated to keep his team near the top of the standings. But politically it has shown a thirst for an NFL club, and that would make the stadium-building process much easier. And the location and state of the city compare favorably to some of the best large municipalities in the United States.
3. London: A lot of people talk about London as if it has moved atop the NFL's relocation list now that Los Angeles is off the board. There's no doubt the league would love to expand its brand into a city with worldwide appeal and a market with 8.5 million people. But it's also a pipedream for the NFL until staggering logistical problems are worked out. London is nearly 3,500 miles east of New York and eight hours ahead of the league's West Coast audience. From a geographical standpoint, there are many unanswered questions in how a London franchise could play eight regular-season games a year in the United States. Financially? London and the NFL would make it very much worth an owner's time to move a team across the Atlantic Ocean. But it would be riddled with massive gambles: whether the fan base will hold up through struggles, the financial exchange implications on a salary cap, hurdles in travel, the perceived unfair burden to divisional opponents taking on an annual overseas game are just to name a few. Mexico City would likely be an easier foreign market to target from a proximity standpoint. But the NFL doesn't want to hear that, and it won't stop the continued push to keep London on the agenda. The money-making possibilities and strong NFL support push London far higher up this list than reality suggests it should be.
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