Though it may seem like a team relocating or changing names is a rare, momentous occasion, it’s part of the history of many franchises in North American professional sports.
If there’s one topic that consistently dominates the interests of sports fans outside of anything that takes place on the field of play, it’s undoubtedly rumors of league expansion and relocation.
While all four leagues are quite stable in terms of the number of teams and longevity of most franchises, the relocation of teams often changes the complexion of rivalries and what cities are the most invested in each sport.
With 123 of the 124 big four professional sports teams under private ownership (the NFL’s Green Bay Packers being the lone exception), the fate of pro sports franchises can often rest on the interests of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals who either own or have a significant stake in the team and its decisions.
While this is typically the driving factor behind the relocation of a franchise, name changes happen a bit more frequently for a wide range of reasons, whether that be as simple as marketing, in the case of the Angels’ name changes in the 1990’s and 2000’s, or the more controversial but necessary decisions to move on from outdated mascots.
The most recent name change and relocation to occur was just in 2025, when the Oakland Athletics left their longtime home in the East Bay for a temporary stay in West Sacramento, where they are currently known as just “Athletics.” Upon their expected arrival in Las Vegas for the 2028 season, the team will be renamed the Las Vegas Athletics.
Although most name changes and relocations are fairly straightforward and involve just that – a name change or relocation – a few instances in sports history have perhaps complicated the matter a bit, so much so that they’re not technically considered relocations.
Perhaps the most notable among these was “The Move,” a much-maligned decision from Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell to relocate the fledgling franchise to Baltimore ahead of the 1996 season. After legal action taken from both Browns fans and the City of Cleveland, an unusual compromise was reached.
While all player contracts and assets of the 1995 Browns were allowed to be transferred to Baltimore ahead of the 1996 season, the name, history and records of the Browns organization were to remain in Cleveland. The transferred players and assets were officially regarded as an expansion team, and began play as the Baltimore Ravens that season.
As part of the compromise, the Browns franchise was considered suspended for three seasons, with the team resuming play in 1999 as a de facto expansion franchise, stocked with an expansion draft but officially considered a mere continuation of the original Browns franchise.
A similar deal was reached in 2024 in the NHL, where player assets of the Arizona Coyotes were transferred to the now-Utah Mammoth, while the likeness and history of the Coyotes remains in Arizona as a suspended franchise. However, the Coyotes will only exist as a suspended franchise until 2029, when the team is expected to formally fold.
Another notable example occurred in the NBA, though in different circumstances to the prior two examples. After existing as the Charlotte Hornets from 1988 to 2002, the franchise relocated to New Orleans and maintained the team name as the New Orleans Hornets. Basketball returned to Charlotte just two years later in the form of the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, but some league revisionism would take place around a decade later.
After the New Orleans Hornets opted to change their team name to the New Orleans Pelicans ahead of the 2013-14 season, the Bobcats announced plans to revert their team name to the Charlotte Hornets, a move made official in the 2014-15 season. Upon this move, the franchise history of the original Hornets team was restored in Charlotte, with the Pelicans now officially treated by the league as an expansion franchise with their team history beginning in 2002.
As for other franchises across professional sports, name changes and relocations are a surprisingly common part of the league’s history. Here’s a look back at all of the teams to have moved and/or changed names over the years.
(To note, this list does not include temporary relocations, such as the Toronto Raptors playing in Tampa Bay during the 2020-21 season or the Chicago Bears playing a season in Champaign, Ill. during the remodeling of Soldier Field. It does however, include the history of teams before they entered their respective leagues.)
National Football League
New England Patriots
- Boston Patriots (1960-1970)
New York Jets
- Titans of New York (1960-1962)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Pittsburgh Pirates (1933-1939)
- Phil-Pitt Steagles (1943)
- Card-Pitt (1944)
Indianapolis Colts
- Baltimore Colts (1953-1983)
Tennessee Titans
- Houston Oilers (1960-1996)
- Tennessee Oilers (1997-1998)
Kansas City Chiefs
- Dallas Texans (1960-1962)
Las Vegas Raiders
- Oakland Raiders (1960-1981, 1995-2019)
- Los Angeles Raiders (1982-1994)
Los Angeles Chargers
- Los Angeles Chargers (1960)
- San Diego Chargers (1961-2016)
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Commanders
- Boston Braves (1932)
- Boston Redskins (1933-1936)
- Washington Redskins (1937-2019)
- Washington Football Team (2020-2021)
Chicago Bears
- Decatur Staleys (1920)
- Chicago Staleys (1921)
Detroit Lions
- Portsmouth Spartans (1928-1933)
Arizona Cardinals
- Morgan Athletic Club (1898)
- Racine Normals (1899-1900)
- Racine Street Cardinals (1901-1905, 1913-1917, 1919-1921)*
- Chicago Cardinals (1922-1943, 1945-1959)
- Card-Pitt (1944)
- St. Louis Cardinals (1960-1987)
- Phoenix Cardinals (1988-1993)
*Operations were suspended from 1906-1912 and 1918
Los Angeles Rams
- Cleveland Rams (1936-1942, 1944-1945)*
- Los Angeles Rams (1946-1994)
- St. Louis Rams (1995-2015)
*Operations suspended in 1943
Major League Baseball
Baltimore Orioles
- Milwaukee Brewers (1894-1901)
- St. Louis Browns (1902-1953)
Boston Red Sox
- Boston Americans (1901-1907)
New York Yankees
- New York Highlanders (1903-1912)
Tampa Bay Rays
- Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-2007)
Chicago White Sox
- Sioux City Cornhuskers (1894)
- St. Paul Saints (1895-1899)
- Chicago White Stockings (1900-1903)
Cleveland Guardians
- Columbus Buckeyes/Senators (1896-1899)
- Grand Rapids Prodigals (1899)
- Cleveland Lakeshores (1900)
- Cleveland Bluebirds (1901)
- Cleveland Broncos (1902)
- Cleveland Naps (1903-1914)
- Cleveland Indians (1915-2021)
Minnesota Twins
- Kansas City Blues (1894-1900)
- Washington Senators (1901-1904, 1957-1960)
- Washington Nationals (1905-1956)
Athletics
- Philadelphia Athletics (1901-1954)
- Kansas City Athletics (1955-1967)
- Oakland Athletics (1968-2024)
Houston Astros
- Houston Colt .45s (1962-1964)
Los Angeles Angels
- Los Angeles Angels (1961-1964)
- California Angels (1965-1996)
- Anaheim Angels (1997-2004)
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2005-2015)
Texas Rangers
- Washington Senators (1961-1971)
Atlanta Braves
- Boston Red Stockings (1871-1875)
- Boston Red Caps (1876-1882)
- Boston Beaneaters (1883-1906)
- Boston Doves (1907-1910)
- Boston Rustlers (1911)
- Boston Braves (1912-1935, 1941-1952)
- Boston Bees (1936-1940)
- Milwaukee Braves (1953-1965)
Miami Marlins
- Florida Marlins (1993-2011)
Philadelphia Phillies
- Philadelphia Phils (1942)
Washington Nationals
- Montreal Expos (1969-2004)
Chicago Cubs
- Chicago White Stockings (1871-1889)
- Chicago Colts (1890-1897)
- Chicago Orphans (1898-1902)
Cincinnati Reds
- Cincinnati Red Stockings (1881-1889)
- Cincinnati Reds (1890-1952)
- Cincinnati Redlegs (1953-1958)
Milwaukee Brewers
- Seattle Pilots (1969)
Pittsburgh Pirates
- Allegheny (1882-1886)
- Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1887-1890)
St. Louis Cardinals
- St. Louis Brown Stockings (1882)
- St. Louis Browns (1883-1898)
- St. Louis Perfectos (1899)
Los Angeles Dodgers
- Brooklyn Grays (1883, 1885-1887)
- Brooklyn Atlantics (1884)
- Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1888-1890, 1896-1898)
- Brooklyn Grooms (1891-1895)
- Brooklyn Superbas (1899-1910)
- Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers (1911-1912)
- Brooklyn Dodgers (1913, 1932-1957)
- Brooklyn Robins (1914-1931)
San Francisco Giants
- New York Gothams (1883-1884)
- New York Giants (1885-1957)
National Basketball Association
Brooklyn Nets
- New Jersey Americans (1967-1968)
- New York Nets (1968-1977)
- New Jersey Nets (1977-2012)
Philadelphia 76ers
- Syracuse Nationals (1946-1963)
Detroit Pistons
- Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (1937-1948)
- Fort Wayne Pistons (1948-1957)
Atlanta Hawks
- Buffalo Bisons (1946)
- Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1946-1951)
- Milwaukee Hawks (1951-1955)
- St. Louis Hawks (1955-1968)
Charlotte Hornets
- Charlotte Hornets (1988-2002)
- Charlotte Bobcats (2004-2014)
Washington Wizards
- Chicago Packers (1961-1962)
- Chicago Zephyrs (1962-1963)
- Baltimore Bullets (1963-1973)
- Capital Bullets (1973-1974)
- Washington Bullets (1974-1997)
Denver Nuggets
- Denver Rockets (1967-1974)
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Seattle SuperSonics (1967-2008)
Utah Jazz
- New Orleans Jazz (1974-1979)
Golden State Warriors
- Philadelphia Warriors (1946-1962)
- San Francisco Warriors (1962-1971)
Los Angeles Clippers
- Buffalo Braves (1970-1978)
- San Diego Clippers (1978-1984)
Los Angeles Lakers
- Detroit Gems (1946-1947)
- Minneapolis Lakers (1947-1960)
Sacramento Kings
- Rochester Seagrams (1923-1942)
- Rochester Eber Seagrams (1942-1943)
- Rochester Pros (1943-1945)
- Rochester Royals (1945-1957)
- Cincinnati Royals (1957-1972)
- Kansas City-Omaha Kings (1972-1975)
- Kansas City Kings (1975-1985)
Houston Rockets
- San Diego Rockets (1967-1971)
Memphis Grizzlies
- Vancouver Grizzlies (1995-2001)
New Orleans Pelicans
- New Orleans Hornets (2002-2005, 2007-2013)
- New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (2005-2007)
San Antonio Spurs
- Dallas Chapparals (1967-1970, 1971-1973)
- Texas Chapparals (1970-1971)
National Hockey League
Detroit Red Wings
- Detroit Cougars (1926-1930)
- Detroit Falcons (1930-1932)
Toronto Maple Leafs
- Toronto Hockey Club (1917-1918)
- Toronto Arenas (1918-1919)
- Toronto St Patricks (1919-1927)
Carolina Hurricanes
- New England Whalers (1972-1979)
- Hartford Whalers (1979-1997)
New Jersey Devils
- Kansas City Scouts (1974-1976)
- Colorado Rockies (1976-1982)
Chicago Blackhawks
- Chicago Black Hawks (1926-1986)
Colorado Avalanche
- Quebec Nordiques (1972-1995)
Dallas Stars
- Minnesota North Stars (1967-1993)
Utah Mammoth
- Utah Hockey Club (2024-2025)
Winnipeg Jets
- Atlanta Thrashers (1999-2011)
Anaheim Ducks
- Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993-2006)
Calgary Flames
- Atlanta Flames (1972-1980)
Edmonton Oilers
- Alberta Oilers (1972-1973)
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