(S23) - PT3 - Dream Team

[caltroit_red_flames]

Oh mam expansion is always such a fun topic to talk about. It totally changes the dynamic of the league which is awesome because having teams always made up of the same members can make things go stale.

If I were to get an expansion team I would probably go with the most realistic spot. Considering that football is the most popular sport in America I don't think we need to worry about location other than population. Based on that I'll go with the highest population city that does not have an NSFL team.

1.) New York (8,175,133) - No team
2.) Los Angeles (3,792,621) - Close to Orange County
3.) Chicago (2,695,598) - Chicago Butchers
4.) Houston (2,100,263) - No team

While I think it would be more fun to bring a team to Texas since it really is the state of football, you absolutely cannot ignore the population of New York. That would bring an insane number of fans into the NSFL fold and give them a team to cheer for.

When it comes to branding, I think I'd like to go with some that really captures the essence of New York. And what is New York known for? Well it's the biggest city in America, so let's go for something truly American. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the New York World Police.

[Philliesphan96]

If I were to receive an expansion team, the city I would put said expansion team and the name I would give the expansion team would be the Indianapolis Frontier. This is the name of an expansion hockey team I created in the NHL video game on Play Station 4 once. I really liked the name for the city of Indianapolis since Indiana was at one time the frontier. This wasn't just any time that Indiana was the frontier though, it was THE time of the frontier with Daniel Boone and people taking the Cumberland Pass through the mountains in Kentucky. Fort Wayne, one of the bigger cities in Indiana was originally a fort on the frontier. So Indiana's association with the frontier is very clear. The reason I picked Indianapolis is that it clearly can support a successful football franchise since it has the Colts who I believe have a healthy fan base. The other reason I picked Indianapolis is that it has such a strong connection to the sport that I hold nearest and dearest to my heart. Marching Band. You may think I'm kidding, (I'll fight anyone who says it is not a sport) but I am dead serious. Indianapolis holds the World Class Professional Marching Band finals every year (Drum Corps International) and the High School Marching Band National Finals (Bands of America) every year.

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[Mooty99]

Firstly thank you for this topic, it is a great one to write about so I really appreciate it! I have thought a lot about expansion names and themes (mainly because it is a really fun thing to think about). I have many ideas in my head. 1st location, I prefer the location to be a decent size city (sorry Yellowknife) and for a NSFL team it really should be in North America (and that is coming from an Englishman). The other thing about location I like is to pick a city that doesn't have an NFL franchise, after all you wouldn't want to compete for fans! Next thing to think about is name, personally I am quite open to names, I think the name should have some relation to the chosen city, an animal that is found near by something like that but I am not to fussy as long as it makes an awesome badge. The last thing to think about is colours, the NSFL has got plenty of of blue and red so I would stear clear of both of those but after that you are good, a pink team is certainly needed.

And now for the fun part my top ideas:

The Memphis Jackels - Black and Gold - the image would be of the Egyptian Jackel headed god of death Anubis, who is traditionally black in colour with a golden headdress. Memphis is the name of an Ancient Egyptian city after all.

The Orlando Mantis Shrimp - Pink and Blue - Orlando is a fun place and the Mantis Shrimp are awesome looking (look up Peacock Mantis Shrimp) and are found in warm waters including off the florida coast.

The Boise Stallions - White and Black - Boise is meant to be a great place and a white and black team would be a real opening. A horse based team is classic and the Appaloosa (a spotted/mottled and often black and white) is the state horse of Idaho.

[Gwdjohnson]

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Written Option: There’s been a lot of talk about expansion drafts and what might be in store for the league going forward. If you were in charge of creating an expansion franchise, what would you name it and where would the team be located? In 200 words or more, describe why you picked that name and location and explain why your franchise would make a good NSFL team.

So I am not exactly the biggest and most active guy on NSFL, so off the top of my head I could name probably a quarter of the league franchises. However, one thing that I am fully aware of is an entire lack of CANADIAN representation among the entirety of this make believe football world. We have a team based in another of our North American friend countries (Tijuana Luchadores, Mexico), and hell we even have a team in Europe for crying out loud (London Royals, England), but we show no love to Canada at all. That is why for my expansion, I will be giving my home nation a piece of the pie.

Introducing the Montreal Olympics (or Olympiques for my fellow quebecois folk).

The name comes from the rich history attached to the Olympics that Montreal has, having hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics, and it would pair very well with their games being played in the famous Olympic Stadium, which has been a host venue for Montreal's team in the real life Canadian Football League. Montreal itself is obviously not a MASSIVE footballing city itself, with much more sporting emphasis put on their hockey team, the Canadiens, but with how rowdy and supportive Montreal fans are towards their successful sports franchises, the Olympics would generate a loud atmosphere at their games and be a force during their home games, especially if you're a team not used to cold weather.

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[qWest]

Fuck your New York. Fuck your Houston. Fuck your boring American expansion team.

It's time we recognize how important the truly global nature of the NSFL and the sport of American football are to the continued success of both in the 21st century. Though leagues like the NFL are bound by economic considerations, the boundless power of the internet allows us the opportunity to recognize growing communities of football players and fans across the globe. With a team in Canada in the NSFL and DSFL representation for Mexico and the UK, we've barely scratched the surface of what we can and should be doing when it comes to creating a more interesting, fun, and engaging league. We should commit to bringing both of the next two NSFL franchises to international audiences, audiences that may not be able to see their native cultures and communities represented on the global stage of football.

Europe and Oceania are obvious targets, and I would be ecstatic to see a team in Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, or anywhere else in those regions, but what interests me most are two countries that have been rapidly growing and expanding the presence of American football within: Brazil and Japan. Both countries have exciting growing amateur leagues as well as a abundance of wonderful fans of the existing leagues. I've decided that my favorite locations are both countries respective financial centers: São Paulo in Brazil and Tokyo in Japan. For Tokyo, I love the idea of bringing the vibrant and awesome imagination of Japanese media into the branding with a name like the Tokyo Guardians, featuring a mech/robot mascot, or the Tokyo Kaiju, the Japanese name for giant monsters like Godzilla. For São Paulo I love the idea of including representation for the countries vibrant and unique fauna, ultimately choosing the São Paulo Tucanos as my favorite choice for branding for this location.

I think these are two amazing options that I would love to see realized by the next sets of expansion GMs. Just please for gods sake, please don't bring another couple of teams based in the US into the league, there's plenty already.

[howsour]

A couple months ago, when expansion was a hot topic, I wrote an article describing what I believed were the best locations to house an expansion franchise. A good number of the potential expansion locations have already been mentioned in previous entries to this point task, so I had to go with my heart. Since the NFL decided to leave St. Louis and the XFL folded, I think that St. Louis would be a perfect place for the next NSFL expansion franchise.

St. Louis has a good sized metropolitan area and is not too long of a drive away from Chicago and Kansas City where current teams exist. St. Louis suffers from a lack of existing major sports franchises in the city, but I think the main attraction is that the fan base is very eager to support their local teams, especially if it is in spite of Stan Kroenke.

As for the team branding, I could see it going one of two ways. I am torn between either the more classic St. Louis Stallions (which was the proposed name of a 90’s NFL expansion team). I would also see wanting to utilize the iconic St. Louis Arch and call the team the St. Louis Archers. However, I think I would prefer the St. Louis Stallions whose gold and purple color way would be a differentiator in terms of NSFL branding. Additionally, there are no other horse teams in the league and there is a severe lack of animal mascots overall.

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[CLG Rampage]

I've never been one to think about expansion, honestly. I'd never put in a bid to make an expansion team, because I just don't have the skill as a GM and I'd quickly be burned out trying to get the team up to a good standard. But if I had a gun to my head and had to make an expansion team, I'd probably choose a team somewhere in the northeast of the US. The closest team in that region is the Liberty, so I feel like there's a lot of potential for the northeastern part of the country.

Boston is the obvious choice, so I'll skip it. I'd probably choose Worcester, MA, for a couple of reasons. One, with so many colleges in the area and good transportation into the city through the MBTA, the games would be very popular. Two, the Paw Sox will be moving to Worcester in the near future with a brand new stadium, and they have a ton of land for a football stadium as well, potentially.

So what would I call them? Well, giving it some thought, I'd probably settle on something like the Worcester Scholars, due to the huge amount of colleges in the area. The logo could be a wizard scrunched over a book, something like that, using light blue as its primary color. Something like that could be pretty cool.

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[Bwestfield]

There are some easy places to place a franchise. There are plenty of cities around the world that deserve it and we certainly do not need another American city team. But, because I am in charge I get to choose. I would choose Boston. I have no real affiliation with Boston, in fact I live in Buffalo and often have to see my sports teams lose to them time and time again. Boston is rich with history both on and off the field of football. But the reason I chose Boston was for my good friend Marc Spector (RedCydranth). We have been friends all of my adult life and we played fantasy football almost the entire time. We would spend hours on hours of research together. Trying to get each other to pick players we didnt want on our own team, so we would hype them up so they looked good. It was all in good fun. More or less I picked Boston to honor him as he is no longer with us and his fantasy football team was the Boston Red Dragons. This would be the team and mascot I choose so that I can honor him. He put his heart and soul into every game he played. I would do that same to make his namesake a success. Godspeed.

[toivo]

Stockholm Valkyrie. I used to command a team with this brand in a hockey league and I am still fond of it. The Valkyrie would note NSFL’s European expansion. The Valkyrie would represent Sweden with a yellow and blue color scheme. The Valkyrie would have a V in their logo in a prominent feature. Stockholm might not be the hotbed for American football, but it would be a great starting point to get an untapped continent onboard as fans. The market offers a great fanbase that is supportive of other teams. The seasonal nature of American football allows the city to properly invest in the football team. Stockholm Valkyrie are looking to be a competitive team right off the bat. Some teams take a cautious and planned approach for a team looking to be successful for a long time. Stockholm, on the other hand, needs to win out the gate and get some good electricity generated by the fan base. While the goal for the Stockholm Valkyrie is to get some quality players, the key to that is by having a qualified staff. We are going to get the top scouts and trainers. Not only are we going to find the hidden gems, the Valkyrie want to make sure the players are taken well care of physically.

[GoonerBear]

Although more famous for the Louisville Slugger that has become a baseball staple, the city of Louisville, Kentucky has enough football history and recent support for the local Louisville Cardinals that a professional football franchise would not be so far out of the question. Admittedly, Kentucky is more interested in basketball and the college battles between the Cardinals and Kentucky Wildcats from Lexington. However, in recent years, support was solid with a boost from the Lamar Jackson years, especially his Heisman campaign, and there is a bit of ancient football history, with pro teams from the 1880s to 1926, when the Louisville Colonels spent a season playing.

That aside, for the modern age in the NSFL, it's far enough away from current franchises, has its own distinct culture from those who would be the closest to them, and it would be nice to feature a city that doesn't have top flight professional clubs at this time. It's "south," though distinct enough from Austin, New Orleans, and Sarasota, and close to the Midwest, though also far enough from Chicago. Nashville would be a good landing spot as well for a similar locale, though Louisville's ties to sport without having a major league following makes it, in my mind, a better candidate to feature in our league.

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