Goodell: The NFL would probably expand to 34 if LA gets team

[Wacca Pilatka]

Louisville has the capacity to support a pro team, I'm sure, but I don't think it's ever pursued the NFL seriously the way it has the NBA.  Louisville really got shafted with respect to the Colonels of the ABA, who should have been admitted to the NBA in 1976; and probably would have been a better site than New Orleans for the Hornets' relocation.  KFC had expressed willingness to sponsor a new NBA arena there under the name "The Bucket."  A stadium is another story, and I think much of Kentucky supports the Bengals already.

Sacramento went after the NFL before, but was cut in the opening credits of the 1993 expansion race.  Proximity to Oakland and San Francisco seems to kill its prospects, and the city hasn't been willing to pony up for an arena upgrade to keep the Kings from moving to Anaheim.  I'm not sure if it would be willing to pay for an NFL stadium.

[I-10east]

^^^If the SAC Kings move to Anaheim, a coupla years later, the city's name probably wouldn't be marketable enough, so it would change the name to the LA (basketball) Kings not to be confused with the LA (hockey) Kings. IMO if the Kings leave Sacramento, it would make more sense to move them to Seattle, than for LA to have three NBA teams in that area. Alotta people don't know that Sac Town is the nation's 20th TV market, although, the only reason why it's so big because it's proximity to San Fran on Oakland. That goes to show, TV markets in comparsion with the a city's size are often misleading. If it wasn't for SF and OAK, SAC would be around the JAX(47th) TV market range.

[Tacachale]

Were this to happen, it would be a very interesting expansion period, because for the first time the NFL's supply of franchises might actually approach the demand for them. Other than LA, there are no more "old NFL cities" who have lost a team and want one back - it's unlikely there would be many more cities willing to shell out stupid amounts of money on stadiums. It might be a bit of a stabilizer. It really would be a contest of who among several decent-but-not-overwhelmingly-obvious markets would be willing to construct a stadium.

For my money, the one that makes the most sense is San Antonio. Big, fast growing city, strong football culture. Vegas would be a good market, but it's hard to see the NFL trying that experiment first. Sacramento could also be good, but I highly doubt anyone in California will be convinced to put any public money into a new stadium, especially when the state would have 4 NFL teams at that point. Toronto would be a major gain for the NFL, but it would likely be at the expense of wiping out the CFL. There'd be local resistance, to say the least. I don't see the league going into any more small markets like SLC, Oklahoma City, or Louisville - especially if there's already another major league sport in town - though stranger things have happened.

[Seraphs]

Birmingham-hick naw, Memphis-possibly, Portland-could happen.