Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange
On the other hand, when you look at all the real-life NFL club relocations that have taken place since 1982, none of them resulted in a realignment of the divisions.
1982: Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles. Club remained in AFC West.
1984: Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis. Club remained in AFC East.
1988: St. Louis Cardinals to Phoenix. Club remained in NFC East.
1995: Los Angeles Raiders to Oakland. Club remained in AFC West.
1995: Los Angeles Rams to St. Louis. Club remained in NFC West.
1996: Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. Club remained in AFC Central.
1997: Houston Oilers to Memphis (later Nashville). Club remained in AFC Central.
I doubt the NFL would realign its divisions due to a club relocation since: (a) the schedule is so short and spread out compared to the other big sports leagues travel considerations are not a major factor, and (b) the desire to continue established rivalries with that club, wherever it may be situated, via divisional games.
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You certainly might be right, but none of those moves were as dramatic geographically as a Jacksonville to L.A. move would be, going through three time zones and coast to coast. Also, with the exception of the previous Oakland to LA move, none of them involved a team moving to the type of media market that might influence that decision. I would imagine the NFL would prefer an LA team play as many games at 1PM local time as possible versus 10AM local time. I could see it going either way. I guess we'll find out if it happens.
As for established rivalries, that's one of the reasons I pegged St. Louis as a possible mover. I don't think the rivalries St. Louis or Jacksonville have with the teams in their divisions are ones the NFL would be tripping over themselves to keep. I mean it doesn't make much sense that Dallas is in the NFC East on paper, but those rivalries are all big time, so they'll never be moved.