National Football League

Main article: National Football League franchise moves and mergers

• 1921: Decatur Staleys moved to Chicago and became the Bears one year later.
• 1934: Portsmouth Spartans moved to Detroit and became the Lions.
• 1937: Boston Redskins moved to Washington, D.C. as the Washington Redskins
• 1946: Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles.
• 1960: Chicago Cardinals moved to St. Louis.
• 1982: Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles. The NFL refused permission for the move, but the team won the right to relocate in a court case.
• 1984: Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis and became the Indianapolis Colts. The team's offices were slipped out of Baltimore in the middle of the night to avoid a proposed eminent domain seizure by the state of Maryland.
  Further information: Baltimore Colts relocation to Indianapolis
• 1988: St. Louis Cardinals moved to the Phoenix area, playing games in nearby Tempe. The team now plays in another Phoenix suburb, Glendale. The team was renamed the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.
• 1995: Los Angeles Raiders moved back to Oakland after 13 previous seasons.
• 1995: Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis.
  Further information: History of the National Football League in Los Angeles
• 1996: Cleveland Browns players and coaching staff moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. The move was one of the most controversial in major professional sports history. In response to a fan revolt and legal threats, the NFL awarded a new franchise to Cleveland in 1999, which for historical purposes is considered a continuation of the original Browns franchise.
  Further information: Cleveland Browns relocation controversy
• 1997: Houston Oilers moved to Memphis and became the Tennessee Oilers. The team originally planned to play both 1997 and 1998 in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis before moving to their intended destination of Nashville. However, due to poor attendance, the team moved to Nashville in 1998, playing in Vanderbilt University's stadium. The team was renamed as the Titans in 1999, when their new stadium was opened. The NFL granted Houston a new expansion franchise in 2002.
• 2016: St. Louis Rams moved back to Los Angeles after 21 seasons in St. Louis.
• 2017: San Diego Chargers moved to Los Angeles after 56 seasons in San Diego.
• 2019: Oakland Raiders were approved to move to Las Vegas. The team will play in Oakland for the 2017 and 2018 NFL seasons before relocation.^[5]
  Further information: Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas

American Football League

The fourth league to use the name "American Football League" began operation in 1960 with eight teams. It became by far the most successful rival to the NFL, eventually agreeing in 1966 to a merger with the NFL which took effect in 1970. All teams from the 1960–69 AFL were brought intact into the NFL, and all AFL statistics and records were incorporated into the NFL's history.

• 1961: Los Angeles Chargers moved to San Diego.
• 1963: Dallas Texans moved to Kansas City, Missouri and became the Kansas City Chiefs.

National Hockey League

Main article: List of defunct and relocated National Hockey League teams

Relocations in the NHL have been unique in that most of the teams have changed their names after relocating, as opposed to keeping their identity with the old market. Only one NHL team that relocated—both in the pre-Original Six era and in the modern era—kept their names: the Calgary Flames.
The Edmonton Oilers nearly relocated to Houston in 1998, but the team remained in the city after a limited partnership raised enough money to purchase the franchise before the deadline.^[6][7] The then-Phoenix Coyotes were placed into bankruptcy with the intent to circumvent the league's relocation rules, but this was blocked by a judge. Other relocation threats came from two of the 1967 expansion teams, the Pittsburgh Penguins (on multiple occasions) and St. Louis Blues (in 1983), but ultimately stayed in their existing markets.

• 1976: California Golden Seals, who played their home games in Oakland, moved to Cleveland and became the Barons. The San Francisco Bay Area was awarded the San Jose Sharks in 1991 (further information: 1991 NHL Dispersal and Expansion Drafts).
• 1976: Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver and became the Colorado Rockies.
• 1978: The Cleveland Barons franchise merged with the Minnesota North Stars.
  Further information: 1978 NHL Dispersal Draft
• 1980: Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary; Atlanta was awarded an expansion team in 1999, which relocated to Winnipeg in 2011.
• 1982: Colorado Rockies moved to East Rutherford and became the New Jersey Devils.
• 1993: Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas and became the Stars; Minnesota was awarded an expansion team in 2000.
• 1995: Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche.
• 1996: Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix and became the Phoenix Coyotes. The team changed its geographic name to Arizona prior to the 2014–15 season.
• 1997: Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh and became the Carolina Hurricanes. For the 1997 and 1998 seasons, they played home games in Greensboro while their intended home, the venue now known as PNC Arena, was under construction in Raleigh.
• 2011: Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became the current version of the Winnipeg Jets.

Arena Football League

For more details on this topic, see List of Arena Football League teams § Expansions and contractions.

• 1991: The Pittsburgh Gladiators moved to Tampa and became the Tampa Bay Storm.
• 2008: The Las Vegas Gladiators moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Gladiators.

Major League Soccer

• 2006: The San Jose Earthquakes moved to Houston and became the Houston Dynamo; however, the team records, logo, colors, championships, and history were left in San Jose. An option for an MLS franchise was awarded to Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff in 2006, and the option was exercised in 2007. The Earthquakes resumed play in MLS in 2008 as a continuation of the previous Earthquakes franchise.

Women's National Basketball Association

• 2002: Two teams relocated following the league's 2002 season:
  • The Utah Starzz moved to San Antonio, becoming the San Antonio Silver Stars. The team changed its name to San Antonio Stars shortly before the 2014 season.
  • The Orlando Miracle were purchased by the Mohegan Native American tribe and moved to the tribe's Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, becoming the Connecticut Sun. This transaction is notable in that the Sun became the first WNBA team to be owned by a party other than an NBA team owner.
• 2009: The Detroit Shock, despite considerable success on the court in Detroit, including seven straight playoff berths and three WNBA titles, moved after the 2009 season to Tulsa and played as the Tulsa Shock through the 2015 season.
• 2016: The Shock announced during the 2015 season that they would move again following that season, this time to the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex (specifically Arlington) and become the Dallas Wings.