Expansion Teams in all 4 major leagues

[RoughRiders9]

Hey guys,

For the past few days, my friend and I have been working on a what if scenario where all of the 4 major sports league (MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL) expanded to 40 teams. Keep in mind that we don't care if the talent will be watered down or if the locations can't really support a team or whatever, but we do would like to try to keep this as realistic as possible. That means no "minor-league-ish" team names or whatever. We are also assuming that we keep ALL of the professional teams intact, but with only a FEW changes (i.e. Anaheim Ducks back to Mighty Ducks of Anaheim).

We also have agreed on one rule: There MUST be an expansion team in Des Moines/Iowa and Little Rock/Arkansas (where we both are from). My friend said that all new Arkansas teams will have Red as their primary color. Yes we are aware that those two places can't support a major team, but it's just for fun in our little dream world. So we'd like to "build" the league around the current teams and Iowa/Arkansas.

We've also come up with a few locations/team names ideas for each of the league. I'm also a sucker for "old/famous teams" (Montreal Expos, Seattle SuperSonics, etc etc) If you guys have any ideas, please do feel free to suggest or modify our ideas or whatever. We'd also like to have at least one team in Rochester (NY) in any sport (except NFL). We met at college there, so it's a somewhat special place in our hearts, lol.

The teams I've listed with the numbers are a "must" for us. The rest are just ideas that we've thrown out.

Thanks!!

MLB:

1) Iowa Oaks

2) Arkansas Travelers

3) Portland Beavers

4) Montreal Expos

5) San Antonio Missions

Vancouver, Utah, San Jose/Puerto Rico, Memphis, Buffalo, Rochester (NY)

need FIVE more teams

NFL:

1) Iowa Barnstormers

2) Arkansas Outlaws/Rebels ????

3) Los Angeles ????

Canton/Ohio, San Antonio, Hawaii, Toronto, Monterrey/Mexico, Oregon, Kentucky, Orlando

Need FIVE more teams

NBA:

1) Iowa ?????

2) Arkansas Diamonds??

3) Seattle SuperSonics

4) Kansas City

Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Rochester (NY), Louisville/Kentucky, Omaha/Nebraska, San Diego

Need SIX more teams

NHL (quite a few Canadian places ):

1) Des Moines Buccaneers? Des Moines Raccoons? Iowa ????

2) Arkansas Bears

3) Hartford Whalers

Hamilton, 2nd Toronto team, Quebec City, Kansas City, Seattle, Portland, Houston, Rochester (NY), Alaska, Wisconsin (can't believe WI doesn't have a team, most likely will be Milwaukee Admirls)

Need SEVEN more teams

So....if you guys have any ideas, please post them here! thanks!!

[Mr. Aware Eagle]

I'd like to see the return of the old Pittsburgh Ironmen in the NBA. It's a really cool name, in my opinion. Plus, it's an awesome opportunity to make an alternate home jersey with "MEN" on the front.

[fumbler]

MLB

Arkansas Rocks.

Memphis Showboats.

Fort Worth Texans.

NFL

Orlando Solars.

Corpus Christi King Fish / Gulfs.

El Paso Rio Grandes.

NBA

Tacoma Mountaineers.

Miami Keys.

Victoria Thunderbirds (my UBA team).

Omaha Praries.

NHL

Portland Roses

Halifax Atlantic.

Hamilton Hammers.

Thunder Bay Superiors.

Des Moines Centrals.

Toledo Blades.

Alaska Huskies.

[Phillyphan63]

MLB

Vancouver Mounties

New Orleans Vultures

Salt Lake Robins

Portland Lumberjacks

Memphis Hounds

NFL

Canton Bulldogs

Topeka Locomotives

Los Angeles Stars

Mexico City Conquistadors

San Antonio Wranglers

Las Vegas Gamblers

NBA

Pittsburgh Condors

Louisville Jockeys

Omaha Herd

Rochester Knights

San Diego Orcas

St. Louis Dukes

NHL

Quebec Nordiques

California Golden Seals

Hamilton Tigers

Halifax Narwhals

San Francisco Swordfish

Manitoba Moose

Milwaukee Mustangs

Hope these help

[wdm1219inpenna]

MLB - Carolina Strikers (tarheel blue, silver, white & black)

Portland Meadowlarks (or Larks for short)

Orlando Sun Sox

NHL - I hate "Wild" as a team name, I'd like to see the Vikings incorporated, and call the team the Minnesota Norsemen

[aci]

NFL: definitely a San Antonio team, and possibly Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver if you want to go Canadian?

NHL: Hamilton Tigers, Halifax Acadians, Saskatoon Blades, Milwaukee Admirals, Seattle.

NBA: Pittsburgh and St Louis seem like must-haves, maybe re-add Vancouver.

MLB: Vacnouver Canadians, Montreal Expos, second Boston team?, Portland Beavers, Memphis Redbirds, San Antonio Missions, Salt Lake Bees, Charlotte Knights.

[RoughRiders9]

Me and my friend have been focusing on the NHL lately and we've come up with several teams that are a must and possible teams as well:

THE MUSTS

- Des Moines Buccaneers / Des Moines Raccoons (can't decide)

- Arkansas Bears

- Hartford Whalers

- Quebec Nordiques

- Kansas City Scouts

THE MAYBES

- California Golden Seals (SF)

- Rochester Americans

- Milwaukee Admirals

- Hamilton Tigers

- Cleveland Barons

- Manitoba Moose

- Thunder Bay Superiors

- Halifax Atlantic / Narwhals / Acadians (would love to have a team there but can't decide on a name)

As you see, we already got 5 teams that are locks. We need to decide on 5 more teams from the maybes list. We would appreciate your help! Thanks.

[fumbler]

Anchorage would be an ideal spot for NHL with the population of that area of around 300,000 and good sponsorship opportunities.

[oaklandhusker]

1) Iowa Oaks

2) Arkansas Travelers

3) Portland Beavers

4) Montreal Expos

5) San Antonio Missions

Vancouver Coagars, Utah Moose, San Jose/Puerto Rico Geckos, Memphis Monsters, Buffalo Bulldogs, Rochester (NY) Rocks

Nebraska Smoke

Augusta (Maine) Miners

Syracuse Sundawgs

Cleveland Chiefs

Omaha Ogres

NHL (quite a few Canadian places )

1) Des Moines Raccoons?

2) Arkansas Bears

3) Hartford Whalers

Hamilton, 2nd Toronto team, Quebec City, Kansas City, Seattle, Portland, Houston, Rochester (NY), Alaska, Wisconsin (can't believe WI doesn't have a team, most likely will be Milwaukee Admirls)

Manitoba Moose

Need SIX more teams

[Mr. Aware Eagle]

I wouldn't go with the Manitoba Moose. The AHL team played in Winnipeg, in the same arena that the current Jets play in.

[GriffinM6]

MLB

Vancouver Woodsmen

Utah Summit

Portland Beavers

NFL

Canton Bulldogs

[drdougfresh]

Portland/Seattle/Vancouver (WA) getting an NHL team would be good for the Pacific coast. Milwaukee/Wisconsin (like maybe Madison) wouldn't be a bad idea, either. Adding another Ohio team to the NHL is not a good idea, IMO-- given that the Barons failed before and the Blue Jackets can't give away tickets. Thunder Bay, Halifax, and Hamilton are all decent locations, too.

I think you have to think about where hockey is sustainable first-- and then choose names based on those locales. Probably better to not fall back on old names, either, like the Scouts, Tigers, etc. New identities are more fun, and a lot more open to possibilities.

[Legend]

Me and my friend have been focusing on the NHL lately and we've come up with several teams that are a must and possible teams as well:

THE MUSTS

- Des Moines Buccaneers / Des Moines Raccoons (can't decide)

- Arkansas Bears

- Hartford Whalers

- Quebec Nordiques

- Kansas City Scouts

THE MAYBES

- California Golden Seals (SF)

- Rochester Americans

- Milwaukee Admirals

- Hamilton Tigers

- Cleveland Barons

- Manitoba Moose

- Thunder Bay Superiors

- Halifax Atlantic / Narwhals / Acadians (would love to have a team there but can't decide on a name)

As you see, we already got 5 teams that are locks. We need to decide on 5 more teams from the maybes list. We would appreciate your help! Thanks.

I bolded the ones I like the best. You have to bring back the Seals, they had such an awesome logo/uni set.

For the others:

MLB-

Buffalo Locomotives (The railcar business boomed in Buffalo during the WWII era).

Nashville Fugitives (I prefer Nashville to Memphis. Fugitives is a group of writers that were around in the early 20th century.)

Utah Blizzard (Hosted 2002 Olympics and known for their skiing and winter life for tourism.)

Vancouver Ocean (Vancouver has the largest port in Canada.)

Oregon Green (Machine?) (Portland, where I would put the team, is one of the greenest cities in the US. Also the green of the many forests.)

NFL-

Arkansas Outlaws (I prefer Outlaws of the two you had.)

Oregon Rose (Like the MLB team, I have this team in Portland. Portland is well known for roses and previously had a team named Rosebuds.)

Hawaii Volcanoes (Easy pick, but I like the name.)

Toronto Bears (Bear and a beaver on the coat of arms, I like the name bears.)

Kentucky Mustangs (Derby, and known for farmlands and horses.)

Las Vegas Pitbosses (Eh, different?)

Hope I provided some help!

[knnhrvy16]

I'd just like to throw in (as a Utah native) the Salt Lake Bees for the MLB. The name has a great amount of history here (in various leagues throughout the year) and I think would be the ideal choice if Utah were to ever get a team. The Portland Beavers and Montreal Expos would be great to see as well.

For the NHL, Saskatoon Blades and Hamilton Tigers would be great. And not to be a homer, but Utah Grizzlies would be awesome!

For the NBA, how about the Pittsburgh Pipers? Old ABA nod, same could go for Kentucky Colonels or Spirit of St. Louis.

For the NFL...hmm...Canton Bulldogs is cool. Kind of like the Iowa Barnstormers idea, too. Oh! And the Hawaii Islanders.

[worcat]

I love and hate this idea to be honest.

It's fun to be creative and have wishful thinking of fantasy teams in new cities. I understand and get that, it's cool.

What I dislike is the idea that half of your suggested team names are either duplicates of current team names or defunct teams that used to be in the league. You can't have a team named the "Bears" in the NHL along with the Bruins. Sounds ridiculouis IMO. I'd love to see the Scouts or Whalers back in the NHL but where's the originality in this whole discussion? You may as well just pick your team names from previous teams the league used to have.

If you're going to go through this much trouble, atleast go through and detail your ideas as much as possible. I don't understand why half of the suggested team names were chosen to begin with. Are people picking team names according to state or city traditions or just making up something that sounds cool?

What I think would work better is focusing on quality of names/cities than just quantity. I saw something similar to this before and basically it was a poll discussion with voting from members. Step by step process - Pick number of expanded cities, let's say 2 for the NHL. Next vote is on the cities - two highest voted cities are chosen for expansion. Of those two cities, a new poll is held for team names, highest voted name is chosen. Final thread and poll is for uniform/logo design. Best design wins and there you have it... a well organized contest and idea..

[neo_prankster]

NFL

Los Angeles Slayers

MLB

Montreal Expos

Brooklyn Cyclones

NBA

Seattle Supersonics

Pittsburgh Pisces

NHL

Hartford Whalers

Houston Aeros

Indianapolis Racers

Kansas City Scouts

Quebec Norqidues

CFL

Ottawa Rough Riders

[Tygers09]

NBA-

1)Seattle Supersonics

2)Las Vegas

3)Kansas City

4)Lousiville

Honorable Mentioned: St.Louis, Honolulu,

NHL-

1)Quebec Nordiques

2)Seattle Metropolitians

3)Portland Rosebuds or Roses

4)Las Vegas

5)Hartford Whalers

6)Kansas City Scouts

Honorable mentioned: Houston, Omaha, Anchorage/Alaska,

MLB-

1)Portland

2)Las Vegas Black Jax

3)Montreal Expos or Wanderers

4)Salt Lake

Honorable mention: Omaha, San Antonio, Honolulu

NFL-

1)Los Angeles Cobras

2)Las Vegas

3)San Antonio

4)Toronto

Honorable mentioned: Honolulu, Orlando, Vancouver, Birmingham, Memphis

[RoughRiders9]

Hey guys,

We've decided on our 10 NHL expansion teams:

Des Moines Raccoons

Arkansas Bears

Hartford Whalers

Quebec Nordiques

Kansas City Scouts

Halifax Acadians

Thunder Bay Superiors

Rochester Americans

Hamilton Tigers

Milwaukee Admirals

EASTERN CONF:

Atlantic: Boston, Florida, Halifax, hartford, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Washington

Northeast: Buffalo, Carolina, Hamilton, Montreal, Nashville, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Quebec, Rochester, Toronto

WESTERN CONF:

Central: Arkansas, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Des Moines, Detroit, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minnesota, St. Louis

Pacific: Anaheim, Calagry, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Thunder Bay, Vancouver, Winnipeg

Thoughts?? I might switch Nashville and Columbus so Arkansas can have. "natural" rival with Nashville.

Will probably work on NFL next....

Thanks!

[drdougfresh]

My thoughts: I agree with worcat. Bringing back all these old names is kind of boring, TBH. There are some new ones, but why not come up with a new identity for each[b/] team in the expansion? Otherwise, everything is predictable. Whalers & Nordiques I would keep, but the rest should be something new IMO.

[RoughRiders9]

My thoughts: I agree with worcat. Bringing back all these old names is kind of boring, TBH. There are some new ones, but why not come up with a new identity for each[b/] team in the expansion? Otherwise, everything is predictable. Whalers & Nordiques I would keep, but the rest should be something new IMO.

Ok, just so I'm clear on this: do you mean new locations or new team names, but same location?

Like instead the Kansas City Scouts, it could be the Kansas Wheat, Arkansas Blades, Rochester Tigers, etc etc?