Could These 10 Football-Starved Cities Support an NFL Franchise?

Panic is currently gripping a few NFL cities as we speak. The fear of losing their beloved franchise is a very real one for cities like Buffalo, Jacksonville, and even Minnesota.

The NFL is a booming enterprise, and right now league officials want to get the biggest bang for their business buck. That could spell doom for some smaller markets that have had trouble supporting their team in recent years.

Los Angeles has been a key city in the NFL’s supposed expansion plans, but there are other viable places in this country that could be suitable homes as well. The NFL is looking to keep growing so let’s look at ten cities who could be in the running for a future franchise.

10. San Jose

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 18: (L) Patrick Marleau #12 of the San Jose Sharks reacts with teammates Joe Pavelski #8 and Dany Heatley #15 after Marleau's third period goal against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Two of the Western Conference Finals during the 2010

San Jose is just an hour’s drive down the road from both San Francisco and Oakland. The city has a slightly larger population than San Francisco with a little less than a million inhabitants. San Jose has supported an NHL team, the Sharks, for almost twenty years.

San Jose State’s football team has never been a very stable program and hasn’t really attracted a large following throughout the city.

A stadium and some surrounding infrastructure would have to be built for a franchise, but San Jose is a city that has a bit of money in its pocket. Still, the close proximity to Oakland and San Francisco would probably kill San Jose’s chances of every getting an NFL franchise.

9. Portland

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

HOUSTON - APRIL 30: Greg Oden #52, Brandon Roy #7 and Steve Blake #2 of the Portland Trail Blazers walk off the court during play against the Houston Rockets in Game Six of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2009 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Cente

Seattle is the only city in America’s Pacific Northwest that has an NFL franchise to call their own. The city of Portland, Oregon is just three hours south of Seattle, and it’s the only other city in that area of the country that could support a team.

There isn’t a great disparity in the populations of Seattle and Portland, but while the city is beautiful and modern, it doesn’t have a very historic football foundation.

The Blazers are the only major sports franchise in town. The state has done a good job supporting two major college football teams, but supporting an NFL franchise in that market seems like a far fetched idea.

8. Columbus

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes stand during the national anthem at the 96th Rose Bowl game against the Oregon Ducks on January 1, 2010 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

The city of Columbus is right smack dab in the middle of Ohio splitting the distance between Cincinnati down south and Cleveland up north. The city is one of the twenty largest in the country, but it has consistently been overlooked for sports franchises. Even though Columbus is the biggest city in the state, markets like Cincinnati and Cleveland have been luckier acquiring teams.

That may have to do with the town’s loyalty to Ohio State University athletics. Buckeye football is the most important thing in Columbus and there probably isn’t room for an NFL team to come in and siphon away that passion.

7. London

Pool/Getty Images

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 25: A general view of the NFL International Series match between New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium on October 25, 2009 in London, England. This is the third occasion where a regular season NFL mat

If the NFL wanted to cross the borders and expand globally, there are three cities that would be mentioned in the conversation first. London, Toronto, and Mexico City would be the three likely candidates.

Toronto has already been talked about as a future home for the Bills, but the Rogers Centre isn’t up to NFL standards, and a new facility would have to be built to accommodate a team.

Mexico City hosted a regular season game between the 49ers and Cardinals back in 2005, but the city just doesn’t have the funds right now to support a franchise.

London is the most desirable foreign city.

The regular season games at Wembley Stadium may have been snoozefests, but they generated some buzz and hype throughout England.

It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but there’s a possibility in the future that the NFL could start expanding around the world.

6. Honolulu

William Branlund Jr./Getty Images

HONOLULU - DECEMBER 2: Fans of the Hawaii Warriors pose for a photo while tailgating before the game against the Washington Huskies on December 1, 2007 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hawaii won 35-28 and finished the season undefeated at 12-0. (

The NFL’s Pro Bowl was held in Hawaii from 1980 to 2009 before being moved to Miami last year. Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium is a borderline NFL viable facility with a capacity of 50,000.

The city could probably support a team, but the time difference and travel hardships will probably prevent the islands from ever getting a full time franchise.

Luckily for the people of Hawaii, the Pro Bowl will be heading back to Honolulu for 2011.

5. San Antonio

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

PHOENIX - APRIL 27: Head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs reacts to a call against the Phoenix Suns during Game Four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2008 at NBA Playoffs at U.S. Airways Center April 27, 2008 in Phoenix, Ar

San Antonio is currently second on the list of most populated American cities without an NFL organization. The second biggest city in Texas has 1.3 million people living in its borders. The concern though it that many of those citizens live outside the metro area.

The only major sports team in San Antonio right now is the Spurs of the NBA.

The city was able to host the New Orleans Saints at the Alamodome during their Hurricane Katrina season. That type of hospitality could be rewarded some day with a  franchise.

Adding a third team to the country's biggest state is definitley a future possibility for the NFL.

4. Oklahoma City

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

OKLAHOMA CITY - OCTOBER 29: Kevin Durant #35 of the Oklahoma City Thunder watches a free throw against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Ford Center on October 29, 2008 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Bucks defeated the Thunder 98-87. NOTE TO USER: User expres

Oklahoma City is a place out there in the Midwest that doesn’t get mentioned too often when it comes to the NFL. Even though it has a higher population total than places like Atlanta, Kansas City, and Miami, the city probably doesn’t have the resources and capabilities to sustain an NFL team right now.

The state of Oklahoma is very much a college football state, and the Dallas Cowboys already have a good grip on most of the NFL fans in the area.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been a success story in the NBA but trying to introduce an NFL squad to the city would probably be a tougher sell.

3. Las Vegas

Handout/Getty Images

LAS VEGAS - MARCH 19: In this handout provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, the Mirage Resort Race and Sports Book in Las Vegas is shown crowded with basketball fans during NCAA March Madness Tournament March 19, 2010. in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gl

The NFL tries their very best to completely cut ties with sports gambling even though that’s how the league gains a good amount of their following.

The city of Las Vegas was one that grew substantially in the 90s and it’s a city that has a strong population to stand on. The city also has a vast amount entertainment features that the NFL would have to compete with.

In the end, the main deal breaker probably wouldn’t be the gambling; it would instead be the lack of a television audience. Like Oklahoma City, Las Vegas has a relatively small television audience, and that means less dollars from the all important advertisers.

Maybe Las Vegas could host a Pro Bowl someday, but an actual team seems unlikely.

2 Orlando

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

MIAMI - JANUARY 4: Mickey Mouse is on the sidelines as the USC Trojans face the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2005 FedEx Orange Bowl National Championship on January 4, 2005 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida. USC defeated Oklahoma 55-19. (Photo by Doug P

Orlando can't compare to the three Florida cities that already have NFL teams - Tampa Bay, Miami, and Jacksonville - in size or population.What it does offer the NFL, however, is some amazing sponsorship and cross promotional relationships.

There's a lot of action and tourism in Orlando, but there probably isn't the stable nucleus of people to create a full fan base from.

The problems the league has faced trying to generate interest in Jacksonville, which is the state's largest city, would probably make the NFL think twice before ever moving a franchise to Orlando.

1. Los Angeles

George Rose/Getty Images

OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 12: Wide receiver Isaac Bruce #80 of the Los Angeles Rams enters the field prior to an exhibition game against the Oakland Raiders at at the Oakland/Alameda County Coliseum on August 12, 1995 in Oakland, California. The Raiders won 2

Los Angeles is the only team on this list that has actually supported a full time NFL organization before. In fact the city was able to balance two at one time before the Rams and Raiders both skipped town in the nineties.

The second largest city in America has been talked about for nearly a decade as the top candidate to receive an NFL franchise. A stadium and proper facilities would have to be built, and even though a few proposals have come up, nothing will be official until the NFL awards the city a team.

That seems like a strong possibility in the future, but there are still some kinks that need to be ironed out in order for it to happen.