Tv Markets

[The Gipper]

Per Neilsen, these are the 71 largest TV markets in America. I went to 71 because Green Bay is #71, the smallest TV market in the NFL (and in all 4 sports in fact)

1.New York City — Jets/Giants

2.Los Angeles —

3.Chicago — Bears

4.Philadelphia — Eagles

5.Dallas/Fort Worth — Cowboys

6.San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose — 49ers/Raiders

7.Boston — Patriots

8.Atlanta — Falcons

9.Washington, D.C. — Redskins

10.Houston — Texans

11.Detroit — Lions

12.Phoenix — Cardinals

13.Seattle/Tacoma —Seahawks

14.Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota — Buccaneers

15.Minneapolis/St. Paul — vikings

16.Miami/Ft. Lauderdale — Dolphins

17.Denver — Broncos

18.Cleveland/Akron/Canton — Browns

19.Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne —

20.Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto —

21.St. Louis — Rams

22.Portland, OR —

23.Charlotte — Panthers

24.Pittsburgh — Steelers

25.Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville —

26.Baltimore — Ravens

27.Indianapolis — Colts

28.San Diego — Chargers

29.Nashville — Titans

30.Hartford/New Haven —

31.Kansas City, MO — Chiefs

32.Salt Lake City —

33.Cincinnati —Bengals

34.Columbus, OH —

35.Milwaukee —

36.Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville —

37.San Antonio —

38.West Palm Beach —

39.Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York —

40.Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa —

41.Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek —

42.Las Vegas —

43.Norfolk/Hampton Roads, VA —

44.Austin, TX —

45.Oklahoma City —

46.Albuquerque -

47.Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem —

48.Memphis —

49.Jacksonville — Jaguars

50.Louisville —

51.Buffalo, NY — Bills

52.New Orleans —Saints

53.Providence/New Bedford —

54.Scranton/Wilkes-Barre —

55.Fresno/Visalia —

56.Little Rock —

57.Richmond —

58.Albany/Schenectady/Troy —

59.Knoxville — Tennessee

60.Mobile/Pensacola/Fort Walton —

61.Tulsa —

62.Dayton —

63.Lexington, KY —

64.Charleston/Huntington —

65.Fort Myers/Naples, FL —

66.Roanoke/Lynchburg —

67.Tucson —

68.Wichita/Hutchinson —

69.Flint/Saginaw/Bay City —

70.Toledo —

71.Green Bay/Appleton — Packers

[The Gipper]

My point in this is to identify those teams that could be used to fill that gaping hole in the #2 position up there...LA.

My opinion of course is that it should be filled with an expansion team, but I am almost certain that the NFL doesn't see it that way, for several reasons:

1. The economy. They are not sure that in this economic client that adding more teams makes sense, even though they may profit from expansion fees.

2. Greed. They are receiving vast sums of money from national TV contracts with the number of teams they have. Why in hell should "we" divide that pot into more pieces.

3. Congruency. The 32 team league, from a mathmatical and scheduling viewpoint works quite well. Two 16 team conferences each with 4 divisions of 4 teams each has a certain beautiful symmetry to it. Why mess with it.

4. The belief (probably unfounded) that certain franchises are not doing that well and adding more could only jeopardize future profitability. (this is part and parcel of #1 above)

Thus, if LA is to be filled it will have to be filled with somebody. But who?

It won't be the last team on this list. The Packers are one of the most storied franchises in the league with one of the most ardent fan bases....and when you take into account that the Packers is also "Milwaukee's team" the actual market base from which they is actually quite larger than it may appear.

I don't think it will be the team in the next smallest market: The Saints. It would be completely politically incorrect to move them after the recovery both they and the city of New Orleans made from Hurricane Katrina.

I don't think it will be the team in the third smallest market....Buffalo, because the NFL doesn't see them as being in all that small market because they are trying to use them to capture the Toronto/Hamilton Canadian markets. Markets that would have Buffalo vying with the likes of Dallas or Philly in terms of population base. They are the one team that could make the NFL a truly International entity.

The next smallest market is Jacksonville. I believe this is the one team the NFL would most like to move....but, like the Browns in 1995 who could not move because of their lease with the City of Cleveland the City of Jacksonville negotiated a rock solid lease that requires that the team play in that city stadium (whatever the hell it is called now...the old Gator Bowl) until 2029!! And owner Wayne Weaver has said he will never move the team from his home town as long as he owns it.

Other possible candidates are the Vikings and the Chargers. Both have leases whose terms run out soon. Both play in old stadium and both are having trouble getting taxpayerss to swallow the bill for a new one. But the one difference in the teams is that the Vikings have a vibrant fairly young owner in Zygi Wilf, whereas the Chargers have an 88 year old owner suffering under dementia and possibly under a guardianship, whose estate may likely want to sell the team after he dies.

The Chargers, I believe are the prime candidate to fill the LA hole. The NFL can perhaps justify it by saying...well, the Chargers actually began life as the "LA Chargers" (and its true, they did), so they are only going back to their original home the way the Raiders did. Plus, the NFL may...or should get it in their mind to call the Chargers the "California" Chargers or the "Southern California" Chargers. That way they can try to appease the people of San Diego and tell them that...hey , the Chargers are now a "regional" team like the "New England Patriots, or the Minnesota Vikings or the Tennessee Titans. They are still your team. They belong to all of SoCal. Your Charger gear and history is still good. We'll even give preference in the new stadium to current season ticket holders. You may have to drive little further to games....but, heck, some sacrifices have to be made.

I probably wouldn't buy this crap if I was from San Diego. It would be like moving the Browns to Columbus and saying "hey, these are the "Ohio Browns", they are still your team".

Bullcrap. But I guess there is some sense to it. It may be better than moving any other team.