Not every relationship between city and sports franchise is a match made in heaven that’s destined to last forever. When it comes to the NFL, the league’s rich history is littered with teams that have chosen, for one reason or another, to relocate from one place to another. Anyone remember the Houston Oilers? They’re now the Tennessee Titans. Today’s Los Angeles Rams? Those are yesterday’s St. Louis Rams. Even just in recent years we’ve seen the San Diego Chargers join the Rams in Los Angeles and the Oakland Raiders leave the state for Las Vegas. By now then it’s clear that the ownership of an NFL team will have little hesitation in making the decision to pack up shop and find a new home that’s capable of fulfilling whatever needs aren’t being met by the current locale.
With that in mind, let’s play matchmaker within Madden 23‘s franchise mode by breaking up some existing relationships between teams and NFL cities and see if we can’t find them a better place to land. We’ll try not to commit any egregious crimes by fracturing long-standing partnerships that appear to be on stable ground, but instead focus on some teams where there’s already some writing on the wall. Considering this is a completely hypothetical experiment though, we won’t shy away from having a little fun in uniting some cities and teams. That means if you happen to be a fan of any of these places theoretically losing their pride and joy, try not to take it too personally.
The Five Best Teams To Relocate In Madden 23
Buffalo Bills To Toronto
Why be the third team in the state of New York when you can be the first NFL team in an entire country? To be fair, as a proud resident of Toronto myself, I’m obviously a little biased in wanting to finally see a team on this side of the border. It doesn’t entirely feel like wishful thinking though since there have been some rumors in the past about the team making the move about three hours north. With all due respect to Bills fans, it’s probable that Canadian supporters of the new Toronto franchise (Mounties has a nice ring to it) will be true to our stereotype by being considerably more polite than those in Buffalo. But we’ll be happy to carry on the tradition of enthusiastic tailgating complete with the absolute destruction of tables.
To make the move easier, the Bills are one of three teams in Madden 23 that start out with a stadium rating below 20 (more on the others later), which gives you the option of relocating the team immediately.
Jacksonville Jaguars To London
The running joke for a bit now has been that the Jaguars play so many games in London that it’s practically more of a home for them than Jacksonville. There’s at least a kernel of truth within that joke in how little of a homefield advantage TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville has offered the team on a regular basis. It’s not uncommon for the fans of visiting teams to fill the stadium enough that the reaction to touchdowns by the visitors will sound louder than those from the home team when watching on television. If you are deciding to give the Jaguars a more permanent home across the pond, the best name available to the new squad in Madden 23 is probably the Black Knights. It maintains a certain regal quality while also managing to sound marketable enough to sell some jerseys all across the UK.
Washington Commanders To Dublin
Things have been awkward in Washington for years now and perhaps the best thing that they can do at this point is get as far away from the area and their troubled history as possible. As much as the Washington Football Team seemed like a silly stopgap name, the eventual replacement of Commanders didn’t exactly set the world on fire either (and might not last either). As for the ownership of Dan Snyder, I’ll leave the lurid details to be discovered elsewhere and just say that it has seen its share of controversy and that he doesn’t seem like the most likeable guy. So why not take the team formerly known as the Commanders and move them halfway around the world to Dublin? You can even swap out the team’s traditional red colors for green and brand them with the much better name of the Celtic Tigers.
Tampa Bay Bucs To Mexico City
Aside from the games the NFL has played in England in recent years, they have also brought a handful of matchups south of the border to Mexico. There may not be a game scheduled to be played in Mexico in 2023, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go one step further by moving an entire franchise to the country instead. Because the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are another team like the Bills that has a stadium rating low enough to allow you to relocate the franchise immediately, they are an ideal candidate to transport just a little lower on the map. Perhaps it’s also an ideal time for the move as well, considering Tom Brady retired in the offseason and excitement for the Bucs has understandably diminished along with their Super Bowl chances. Nothing could raise the team’s profile more than a fresh start in a new country as the fiery Mexico City Diablos.
Tennessee Titans To Austin
The third and final team with a stadium rating that’s low enough to allow you to relocate them right away, the Tennessee Titans are ready for a change. In reality, the Titans just reached an agreement for a new stadium last year, with plans to have that facility up and running for the start of the 2026 season. That doesn’t mean you have to take that same path though when you find yourself at the helm of the Titans in Madden 23 and poised at this same franchise crossroads. There are plenty of good landing spots, but if you are going to take the team out of the city of music, you may want to consider bringing them somewhere with its own rich cultural scene like Austin, Texas. The option of relocating to Austin also comes with some decent options for new names, where you’ll likely have a tough time deciding between the Bats, Desperados, and Armadillos.
Published: May 30, 2023 03:32 pm