Realigning the divisions to be more geographically accurate

[StreetHawk]

I can’t recall, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the 49ers were one of the teams who went to the league asking for divisional relocation.

It used to be a 30 teams - 6 division league before Cleveland and Houston got their expansion teams. When Jax and Carolina joined, they just joined the divisions that were short a team, thus the odd alignment.

Once it got to 32 teams the NFL went to 8 divisions of 4 teams since the math worked out perfectly.

Overall, the divisions are pretty much aligned properly now. Anything close distance wise like KC/Hou for the West, the NFL deferred to traditional rivalries. Dallas in the East doesn't seem right on paper, but the decades old rivalries trumped distance since Carolina could be easily considered a Southern team.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

It used to be a 30 teams - 6 division league before Cleveland and Houston got their expansion teams. When Jax and Carolina joined, they just joined the divisions that were short a team, thus the odd alignment.

Once it got to 32 teams the NFL went to 8 divisions of 4 teams since the math worked out perfectly.

Overall, the divisions are pretty much aligned properly now. Anything close distance wise like KC/Hou for the West, the NFL deferred to traditional rivalries. Dallas in the East doesn't seem right on paper, but the decades old rivalries trumped distance since Carolina could be easily considered a Southern team.

Dallas is just as Southern as Carolina. The only difference is that Texas is not on the East Coast, but NC is.

 

[StreetHawk]

Dallas is just as Southern as Carolina. The only difference is that Texas is not on the East Coast, but NC is.

Decades of tradition vs the NFC East keeps them there. Could they have swapped Carolina and Dallas? Yes, but did either the Cowboys of the 3 North Eastern teams want that? No. Would NO, ATL, TB have wanted Dallas in their division? Yes, for more tv coverage.
I think Carolina was going to be fine either way. Seniority went to Dallas, so they had their way, not to mention the pull of Jerry Jones. Having bigger markets in the NE as divisional opponents was better for the Cowboys.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

Decades of tradition vs the NFC East keeps them there. Could they have swapped Carolina and Dallas? Yes, but did either the Cowboys of the 3 North Eastern teams want that? No. Would NO, ATL, TB have wanted Dallas in their division? Yes, for more tv coverage.
I think Carolina was going to be fine either way. Seniority went to Dallas, so they had their way, not to mention the pull of Jerry Jones. Having bigger markets in the NE as divisional opponents was better for the Cowboys.

Well, back when the Rams were in St. Louis, I would have put them in the North with CHI, GB, MIN, moving Detroit into the East and Dallas into the West. Detroit, unlike Dallas, is in the Eastern Time Zone (which led to the Red Wings leaving the NHL's Western Conference in 2013), and Dallas, when the Rams were in St. Louis, was the 4th-westernmost NFC team. Plus the Cowboys would have had the 49ers as a division rival - given their past battles for NFC supremacy, Cowboys and 49ers fans might have enjoyed their teams being division rivals. Furthermore, Cowboys is a distinctively "Western" nickname.

 

[93LEAFS]

While the NFL fixed some of the problems in 2002, there are still several that need to be fixed.

Some of the more glaring problems are Miami being in the AFC East despite being the southernmost NFL team, and Dallas being in the NFC East despite being west of every North and South Division team in the conference.

So, the NFL should adopt this alignment:

AFC
E: Buffalo, New England, NY Jets, Pittsburgh
N: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City
S: Baltimore, Jacksonville, Miami, Tennessee
W: Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, LA Chargers

NFC
E: Carolina, NY Giants, Philadelphia, Washington
N: Same
S: Atlanta, Dallas, New Orleans, Tampa Bay
W: Same

This new alignment favors geography over history in many cases.

This doesn't make sense. It makes more sense to keep Pitt to the North, add Colts, put Ravens in the East, add Dolphins to the South. Pitt is closer to Cleveland than any other city. Baltimore in the South makes less sense than being in the North. The AFC North and AFC East are probably the closest geographic divisions outside of Baltimore and the Dolphins. Makes no sense to fragment it the way you have. Bills and Colts are the only fits to make it geographically tighter. The only reason Baltimore in the North made sense is that they are the Zombie Browns and Cleveland to KC is double the distance of Cleveland to Baltimore. So Cleveland loses its closest and most historic rival to travel further? It gains the Colts who were a historic rival, but that can be accomplished by just moving Baltimore to the East, Miami to the South and Indianapolis to the North. Moving the Steelers to the East makes no sense. KC moves from its closest rival in Denver and Denver loses its closest rival. The Frontier/southern Mid-west and West coast teams are always going to be fairly isolated no matter how the divisions are drawn up outside of moving teams massively across conferences.

 

[93LEAFS]

Decades of tradition vs the NFC East keeps them there. Could they have swapped Carolina and Dallas? Yes, but did either the Cowboys of the 3 North Eastern teams want that? No. Would NO, ATL, TB have wanted Dallas in their division? Yes, for more tv coverage.
I think Carolina was going to be fine either way. Seniority went to Dallas, so they had their way, not to mention the pull of Jerry Jones. Having bigger markets in the NE as divisional opponents was better for the Cowboys.

Dallas for their brand obviously prefers having their games air in 3 of the 8 biggest American TV markets regularly. Cowboys have a massive national franchise and getting games on over the air in NYC, Philadelphia and DC is in their interests. Obviously, the NFL loves it for national games too as it constantly creates match-ups between 4 of America's biggest 8 TV markets. Granted, between gambling and fantasy, major markets/draws is not as big a deal as it used to be for the league as a whole. People will watch Green Bay on a MNF simply due to the fact a ton of people will have weekly fantasy implications related to Rodgers, Jones and Adams, plus whoever they are playing, and the public will bet on whatever the MNF game is.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

This doesn't make sense. It makes more sense to keep Pitt to the North, add Colts, put Ravens in the East, add Dolphins to the South. Pitt is closer to Cleveland than any other city. Baltimore in the South makes less sense than being in the North. The AFC North and AFC East are probably the closest geographic divisions outside of Baltimore and the Dolphins. Makes no sense to fragment it the way you have. Bills and Colts are the only fits to make it geographically tighter. The only reason Baltimore in the North made sense is that they are the Zombie Browns and Cleveland to KC is double the distance of Cleveland to Baltimore. So Cleveland loses its closest and most historic rival to travel further? It gains the Colts who were a historic rival, but that can be accomplished by just moving Baltimore to the East, Miami to the South and Indianapolis to the North. Moving the Steelers to the East makes no sense. KC moves from its closest rival in Denver and Denver loses its closest rival. The Frontier/southern Mid-west and West coast teams are always going to be fairly isolated no matter how the divisions are drawn up outside of moving teams massively across conferences.

Houston is further west than KC. Maryland is still classified as a Southern state by the Census Bureau. KC is Midwestern so I want the AFC North to be all Midwestern like the NFC North.

Steelers to East does make sense considering PA is a Northeastern state, and they and the Bills are both in that area which mixes Mid-Atlantic with Midwestern characteristics.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

Dallas for their brand obviously prefers having their games air in 3 of the 8 biggest American TV markets regularly. Cowboys have a massive national franchise and getting games on over the air in NYC, Philadelphia and DC is in their interests. Obviously, the NFL loves it for national games too as it constantly creates match-ups between 4 of America's biggest 8 TV markets. Granted, between gambling and fantasy, major markets/draws is not as big a deal as it used to be for the league as a whole. People will watch Green Bay on a MNF simply due to the fact a ton of people will have weekly fantasy implications related to Rodgers, Jones and Adams, plus whoever they are playing, and the public will bet on whatever the MNF game is.

In the NFC South, the Cowboys would share a division with one other top 10 market team, Atlanta. Tampa Bay isn't far behind, ranked #13.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

also, Indianapolis is closer to KC than Denver is

 

[93LEAFS]

Houston is further west than KC. Maryland is still classified as a Southern state by the Census Bureau. KC is Midwestern so I want the AFC North to be all Midwestern like the NFC North.

Steelers to East does make sense considering PA is a Northeastern state, and they and the Bills are both in that area which mixes Mid-Atlantic with Midwestern characteristics.

You are moving Pitt from its closest rival. PA is a large state. Baltimore is closer to the AFC North teams than any team in the South. Baltimore's most significant geographic designation is being part of the northeast Megalopolis (Boston to Washington,DC along the Eastern Seaboard). KC is further from any of the teams you are designating Midwest. Geographically your solutions are just as big a mess as we currently see. The most logical AFC North is Cleveland, Pitt, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. Kansas City, Houston, and Denver are always going to be isolated regardless of where you place them.

 

[93LEAFS]

In the NFC South, the Cowboys would share a division with one other top 10 market team, Atlanta. Tampa Bay isn't far behind, ranked #13.

I assume access to the NYC area is much more important for their branding. They play 3 teams in the North-East Megalopolis. Atlanta and Tampa pale in comparison to that.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

Distance isn't much of a concern because NFL teams play once a week. But I still feel that my alignment should be put into place.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

I assume access to the NYC area is much more important for their branding. They play 3 teams in the North-East Megalopolis. Atlanta and Tampa pale in comparison to that.

Atlanta is just as influential as NYC. Atlanta is home to many major companies, including most of the cable networks owned by WarnerMedia.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

Plus, if the NFL adopted my realignment for the coming season, the Cowboys would have Tom Brady in their division by way of the Buccaneers. He is more marketable than any QB for the Giants, Eagles, or Washington.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

And my alignment more evenly distributes the former AFL teams in the AFC. Each AFC division would have at least two former AFL teams, the former AFL East teams divided between the East (BUF, NE, NYJ) and South (MIA, TEN), and the former AFL West teams divided between the North (CIN, KC) and West (DEN, LAC, LV).

 

[93LEAFS]

Atlanta is just as influential as NYC. Atlanta is home to many major companies, including most of the cable networks owned by WarnerMedia.

No, it is not, and not even close to a television market or as a city in general. This is just delusional. New York is an Alpha++ city, Atlanta is a Beta+.

Again, it is airing in those markets. It is getting viewership and seeing their product constantly.

 

[93LEAFS]

And my alignment more evenly distributes the former AFL teams in the AFC. Each AFC division would have at least two former AFL teams, the former AFL East teams divided between the East (BUF, NE, NYJ) and South (MIA, TEN), and the former AFL West teams divided between the North (CIN, KC) and West (DEN, LAC, LV).

Except it ignores basic geography to make this happen, which is the problem its trying to solve. Putting Pitt and Cleveland in separate divisions makes no sense. They are the two closest AFC teams in the AFC geographically. To have them in separate divisions makes no sense.

 

[PanthersPens62]

OP has chosen a really odd hill to die on. Rivalries matter big time in the NFL.....one one gives a flying fig about the geography of it all.

 

[DaaaaB's]

Atlanta is just as influential as NYC. Atlanta is home to many major companies, including most of the cable networks owned by WarnerMedia.

Now that is an absurd comment.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Atlanta is just as influential as NYC. Atlanta is home to many major companies, including most of the cable networks owned by WarnerMedia.

Settle down, Ted Turner.

 

[GKJ]

Atlanta is just as influential as NYC. Atlanta is home to many major companies, including most of the cable networks owned by WarnerMedia.

If only they had 14 million more people in their metro area.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Atlanta is just as influential as NYC. Atlanta is home to many major companies, including most of the cable networks owned by WarnerMedia.

If only they had 14 million more people in their metro area.

If you add the entirety of Los Angeles's endless metro to Atlanta's you'd still fall short of NYC's by a little bit

 

[GKJ]

If you add the entirety of Los Angeles's endless metro to Atlanta's you'd still fall short of NYC's by a little bit

The per capita of caring about pro sports would actually go down, too. Atlanta is a notoriously bad sports town who just keep building stadiums

 

[Big McLargehuge]

The per capita of caring about pro sports would actually go down, too. Atlanta is a notoriously bad sports town who just keep building stadiums

That's a hefty insult...and you may not be wrong. LA's biggest sports fandom "problem" is transplants not shedding prior loyalties...so sayeth the Penguins/Steelers/*deep sigh*Pirates fan in the Pasadenas. On the flip side the college sports culture is infinitely more intense in Georgia than it is here. USC & UCLA are huge, but they're so dwarfed by the scale of LA that it feels like Pitt-West Virginia instead of Alabama-Auburn.

Funniest part of that is one of my best friends was a life-long Chargers fan until they moved to LA...now that they're infinitely easier for her to follow they're dead to her because, well, f*** Dean Spanos.

 

[GKJ]

That's a hefty insult...and you may not be wrong. LA's biggest sports fandom "problem" is transplants not shedding prior loyalties...so sayeth the Penguins/Steelers/*deep sigh*Pirates fan in the Pasadenas.

Funniest part of that is one of my best friends was a life-long Chargers fan until they moved to LA...now that they're infinitely easier for her to follow they're dead to her because, well, f*** Dean Spanos.

They signed on to be the other team in LA whose only purpose is to be the second tenant in that stadium. They are the Clippers and Ducks otherwise.