10 Moves Fans Can Make When They Lose Their Team
As someone who has had to live through a team relocating—if you didn't already know, I grew up in Cleveland and had to see the Browns move to Baltimore—I can tell you that the feeling is the most depressing ever as a fan.
Not even a championship loss, a superstar leaving in free agency or a complete firesale by a front office can top a franchise splitting town.
And because the city of St. Louis is going through that heartache as we speak—with their Rams heading back to Los Angeles—and a few other cities, possibly, set for the same fate, here are 10 things that fans can do when they lose their team.
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10. Give Up On The Sport And Root For Another Team In Your City
Trust me, as someone who lives in Seattle today, I can tell you that no sports fans have forgotten about how Clay Bennett moved the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City to become the Thunder.
And while the Pacific Northwest desires an NBA team once again, that hasn't mean they've just sat around crying about losing their beloved Sonics.
In fact, thanks to the passion and history of fans in Seattle, they found another team to root for at the perfect time, supporting the MLS' Sounders at a pace like no other fanbase in the soccer league has seen before.
Breaking attendance records over the past few seasons, Seattle sports fans still long for a pro hoops team, but they're fine cheering on their pro soccer team until they get one.
9. Fall Into Obscurity
Does anyone under the age of about 20 even remember the Hartford Whalers? Yes, that's a serious question.
After the team moved from the smallish city in Connecticut to Raleigh, North Carolina, to become the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997, there's a good chance that many kids who are currently in college don't even know the Whalers ever even existed.
And while there are still a few fans up in Hartford who routinely show signs of hockey life, for the most part, they've all just stopped hope of another NHL team returning to the city and have fallen into obscurity in the process.
8. Try As Hard As Possible For Another Team To Return To Your City
During their six seasons calling Vancouver home, the now Memphis Grizzlies weren't good, compiling a pathetic 101-359 overall record and dealing with bad management and personnel decisions, leaving them betrayed once the team upped and moved.
That doesn't mean that hoops fans in the 'couv believe they couldn't maintain an NBA team now, though, as fans in the city have called for the league to reconsider bringing a team back now that the structure of the league and the wealth in the city could support such an idea.
It might be far-fetched and have little chance to ever come to fruition, but one has to admire the fight and grit of those in Vancouver who still want a franchise to call their city home.
7. Play Even More Fantasy Sports
According to a Fortune.com story, nearly 57 million people living in North America have made fantasy sports a $27 billion business thanks to numerous bets throughout the year, proving that it's something fun for fans to play.
Knowing that, why wouldn't fans in cities like St. Louis—who just lost their NFL team to Los Angeles—play even more to get their football fix? I mean, it's not as if they have anything else to do now that the Rams aren't around.
Plus, the one predicament that is always toughest for fantasy football players—whether to cheer for your "real" team or your fantasy one—won't be an issue, so play away and best of luck!
6. Secretly Cheer For The Team That Moved (Even If You Get Bashed For It)
Bill Simmons might have written a piece years ago about how a team relocating is the perfect out for a sports fan to change allegiances and find another team/sport to support, but no one said it's against the rules to cheer for the team that moved to a different city, right?
Sure, it's not the popular choice among fellow fans, but who cares? Those same players you fought for, got into friendly arguments over, possibly cried about and cheered your heart out for are still the same guys—they're just playing in a different city.
Unless there's a better option and it doesn't sting too much, I say go for it and ride the same wave you've only known, cheering for your guys and your team even if they're no longer in your city. That's what a Vancouver Grizzlies fan did, and he has no regrets whatsoever.
5. Just Choose A Popular Athlete To Start Cheering For Instead
While I admit that it's not nearly as fun to just cheer for a single athlete over an entire team, when a fan decides to pick one who is at the top of his/her game, it's a fun ride that has immediate returns.
Instead of paying hundreds or thousands of dollars to purchase tickets to sporting events, drop that cash on merchandise like jerseys and shoes for your new favorite athlete, falling into the crowd of people who love that same popular athlete for whatever reason.
Rather than stress out about your team missing the playoffs or blowing a big lead, fans with no sports team in their city can follow a player from a distance and save themselves from crazy heartbreak.
4. Jump On The Bandwagon Of A Team Who Could Use The Support
This is like the ultimate sports fans dream come true, as you've just become a free agent and can hop onto any franchise's bandwagon without any regret or slack from others because you've just had your heart ripped out by a team relocating.
Choose wisely, though, as this team will now become yours until eternity, with no other opportunity to change sides again in your lifetime.
That means that you can root for the lovable losers like the Chicago Cubs and celebrate if/when they finally win the World Series, or go for the front-runners and ride the good times as if you've been there the entire time.
3. Pick A Nearby City's Team To Root For
Just like jumping on the bandwagon of a team, as a free-agent fan, you can actually decide whomever you want to root for now, so it doesn't need to be the championship contenders who will compete for a bunch of titles over the next five years or so.
Take the Indianapolis Colts, for instance, who reached out to St. Louis Rams fans to recruit them to their team, showing that Indy isn't too far from St. Louie and that it'd be totally appropriate to cheer for the Colts starting next season.
It might be difficult to pick a team close in the region that has been a rival of your former team for so long,. But think logically here, you don't really have too many other options that make a lot of sense.
2. Forever Boo That Team Until Eternity
Look, to be frank, I'm the world's biggest optimist, always trying to be in a good mood—which is why all of these other suggestions are positive.
To be fair, though, that doesn't mean a fan who just had to suffer through watching his/her team relocate needs to be the same—so go ahead and hold a grudge and root against that team that moved because, dammit, you feel disrespected.
After years of being part of a raucous fanbase who would do anything to cheer for that team, be one of the proud who will do anything to boo that team now that it's no longer yours.
Sure, it's probably a little childish and immature, but so is an owner who lies to millions of people and then ruthlessly stabs them in the back by jumping ship and packing up.
1. Start A Chant At Another Local Sporting Event To Properly Wave Goodbye
I've given a lot of options for fans who no longer have a team to root for, but regardless of which way those people want to go, I think booing or negatively chanting the owner who is moving the team is a must.
Just look at what the St. Louis sports fans did during an NHL game last week after news broke that the Rams were moving to Los Angeles, with thousands in attendance at a Blues game savagely chanting, "Kroenke sucks!" to let Rams owner Stan Kroenke know that he shouldn't let the door hit him on the way out of town.
If an owner can disrespect and forget about an entire city and a team's fanbase that easily, fans should show him/her that they can do the same—even if it's hard or not quite true.
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