A crumbling football league, struggling to gain its footing and doomed to fail? That’s not what I see when looking at the AAF. Since the league isn’t doomed to fail there’s a chance for expansion down the road and as such today we’re looking at 5 of the best options for an AAF expansion team.
5. Dark Horse: Boise:
Last year Boise was ranked the fastest growing city in the United States. This makes it a fantastic area for a new and growing league like the AAF to expand into. If the AAF expanded into Boise it could grow along with the city and finally give the up and coming area a professional team right in the backyard. It already has an ECHL team, the Idaho Steelheads, which is a farm team for the NHL Dallas Stars. Since they yet to have a major professional professional team an AAF team seems like a logical progression as it’s just shy of a major professional sports team but bigger and more popular than an ECHL team. Boise fans have shown time and again how eager and excited they are when it comes to their hometown sports. That excitement could boost the popularity and success of a Boise AAF team making them a dark horse yet solid option for expansion.
4. Chicago:
The Windy City has been on the most popular cities in America for over a century and has become a huge hub for major professional sports. Also with the Bears stringing together a strong season last year things are looking up for football in Chicago. In fact the recent success obtained by the Bears last season presented the perfect opportunity for expansion. The reasoning is because the sports world, in particular the football world has shifted even more focus towards Chicago. With the increased focus towards an already popular franchise and sports city in general Chicago should be a prime target for the AAF as it would garner tons more fans and supporters.
3. Philadelphia:
February 4th, 2018 the Philadelphia Eagles pulled off one the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history and toppled the heavily favored New England Patriots. This drew even more of the sports world’s’ attention to the city of Philadelphia. A city which is constantly growing and one of the most popular cities in the nation. Like the other cities on this list is a fairly big hub for sports, hosting recent Super Bowl champions. While other Philadelphia teams may not hold very recent championships there teams have had solid seasons in recent years and is also one of only 13 cities which is a part of the Big Four, a classification given to cities which have a team in each of the four major professional leagues. Since cities like these draw wide arrays of sports fans and large crowds it’s a target rich environment for new leagues such as the AAF.
2. Boston:
Boston is the city of champions, the city has amassed a total of 38 major sports championships and 12 championships since 2000. The city is one of the biggest hubs for sports currently hosting a fair share of the strongest teams in major professional sports. This makes them a powerhouse not just in their respective leagues, but in the entire nation. The city is excelling in multiple sports and is on a championship hot streak with the Patriots winning 2 out of the last 3 Super Bowls. With their latest Super win, the Patriots tied record for most franchise Super Bowls at 6, with all of them being under the Brady-Belichick era. Brady has also said multiple times he’s returning this season and looks to have a few more left in him. This gives the Patriots an extremely good chance at winning a 7th Super Bowl in the Brady-Belichick era, and setting the new record for most franchise Super Bowls. Boston is also a constantly fast-growing and increasingly popular city. Moreover, a Boston team could attract lots of fans from those who are already fans of Boston or those wanting to jump on the Boston bandwagon given the city’s recent success in major professional sports.
1. New York:
While Boston is A hub for sports New York is THE hub for sports with the most major professional sports teams in the United States. New York has 3 different NFL teams (the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, and New York Jets), 3 different NHL teams (the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, and New York Rangers), 2 different MLB teams (the New York Mets and the New York Yankees), and 2 NBA teams (the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks) accounting for 10 professional teams. Over the duration of those franchises New York has accumulated 44 championships in total with 29 World Series, 9 NFL Championships and/or Super Bowls, 8 NHL Stanley Cups, and 2 NBA Championships. Those championships add up to give New York the most major professional championships of any reason. Also giving New York the edge is the fact that they have the most professional teams of any region in the entire country. New York City is also the City that Never Sleeps, the busiest and most popular city in America. It garners tons of foot traffic and the area carries huge potential for not just one, but multiple AAF teams. Considering New York’s large pull and multiple regions, these teams could attract lots of fans. New York is no doubt the AAF’s biggest market to expand and spread into. Also the history of multiple teams per league within New York makes multiple team potential highly likely to happen, should the AAF expand into the AAF. This multiple team potential could lead to brand new intense rivalries drawing more spectators in wanting to see what the fuss is over or wanting to catch up on the latest inner-New York rivalry.