Just a few years ago, the Patriots, though historically not nearly as popular as the current rendition and arguably the fourth most popular pro team in the region, flirted with a move to Connecticut.
That is true, although "flirted" is certainly not how the folks in CT took it at the time (I was still living there then, just finishing up HS). When Kraft leveraged Hartford's interest to get the new stadium in Foxboro, the state was pretty outraged, and a lot of CT Patriots' fans turned their backs on the team. Not that Bob Kraft cares, since he's rolling in money, but it looked like a very close to done deal for a bit there, and when it blew up people went a bit bonkers.
Still, look at these deals people are bringing up. Moves from the mid-90s, 80s, 70s. Nothing really all that modern, and almost all of the ones that have happened in the past 20 years were to get leverage for better stadiums/lease deals. Actually moving teams from major markets like this (outside of LA, where no one seems to care) just doesn't really happen.
And CAMDEN? People think that could really happen? I guess they can continue to build the waterfront area up, so that they've got the aquarium, the ballpark, the USS New Jersey, and then a new arena. But I can't fathom that really happening. I mean, it's Camden for God's sake.
