National Football League expansion and realignment

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American football history topic National Football League history topic sports league structural history

National Football League expansion and realignment refers to the series of team additions, relocations, and divisional restructurings that have shaped the modern NFL’s competitive and geographic landscape.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	Occurrences
2002 NFL divisional realignment	1

Statements (52)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	American football history topic ⓘ National Football League history topic ⓘ sports league structural history ⓘ
describes	divisional restructurings in the NFL ⓘ team additions in the NFL ⓘ team relocations in the NFL ⓘ
focusesOn	competitive balance in the NFL ⓘ geographic distribution of NFL teams ⓘ league membership changes ⓘ
governedBy	NFL Constitution and Bylaws ⓘ NFL owners’ votes ⓘ
hasGoal	accommodate franchise relocations ⓘ maintain balanced divisional sizes ⓘ preserve traditional rivalries ⓘ support television market coverage ⓘ
hasOutcome	current 32-team NFL structure ⓘ eight four-team divisions in NFL ⓘ
includesEvent	1960 admission of Dallas Cowboys as expansion team ⓘ 1961 admission of Minnesota Vikings as expansion team ⓘ 1967 NFL expansion to 16 teams ⓘ 1967 admission of New Orleans Saints as expansion team ⓘ NFL–AFL merger ⓘ surface form: 1970 AFL–NFL merger realignment 1970 creation of AFC and NFC conferences ⓘ 1970 movement of Baltimore Colts to AFC ⓘ 1970 movement of Cleveland Browns to AFC ⓘ 1970 movement of Pittsburgh Steelers to AFC ⓘ 1970 placement of former AFL teams into AFC ⓘ 1970 relocation of Baltimore Colts to AFC East ⓘ 1976 NFL expansion adding Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers ⓘ 1995 NFL expansion adding Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars ⓘ 1995 relocation of Los Angeles Raiders to Oakland ⓘ 1995 relocation of Los Angeles Rams to St. Louis ⓘ 1996 relocation of Cleveland Browns to Baltimore as Baltimore Ravens ⓘ 1997 relocation of Houston Oilers to Tennessee ⓘ 1999 NFL expansion adding Cleveland Browns (expansion franchise) ⓘ National Football League expansion and realignment self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: 2002 NFL divisional realignment 2002 NFL expansion adding Houston Texans ⓘ 2016 relocation of St. Louis Rams back to Los Angeles ⓘ 2017 relocation of San Diego Chargers to Los Angeles ⓘ 2020 relocation of Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas ⓘ creation of the AFC South in 2002 ⓘ creation of the NFC South in 2002 ⓘ realignment of Arizona Cardinals to NFC West in 2002 ⓘ realignment of Atlanta Falcons to NFC South in 2002 ⓘ realignment of Carolina Panthers to NFC South in 2002 ⓘ realignment of Indianapolis Colts to AFC South in 2002 ⓘ realignment of Jacksonville Jaguars to AFC South in 2002 ⓘ realignment of New Orleans Saints to NFC South in 2002 ⓘ realignment of Seattle Seahawks to NFC West in 2002 ⓘ realignment of Tampa Bay Buccaneers to NFC South in 2002 ⓘ realignment of Tennessee Titans to AFC South in 2002 ⓘ
partOf	National Football League ⓘ

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

NFL–AFL merger → category → National Football League expansion and realignment ⓘ

National Football League expansion and realignment → includesEvent → National Football League expansion and realignment self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: 2002 NFL divisional realignment