An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also hope that the expansion of their competition will grow the popularity of the sport generally. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues but is applied to sports leagues in other countries with a closed franchise system of league membership. The term refers to the expansion of the sport into new areas. The addition of an expansion team sometimes results in the payment of an expansion fee to the league by the new team and an expansion draft to populate the new roster.
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👉 Expansion team in the context of Promotion and relegation
Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes called open leagues. In a system of promotion and relegation, the best-ranked team(s) in a lower division are promoted to a higher division for the next season, and the worst-ranked team(s) in the higher division are relegated to the lower division for the next season. During the season, teams that are high enough in the league table that they would qualify for promotion are sometimes said to be in the promotion zone, and those at the bottom are in the relegation zone (colloquially the drop zone or facing the drop). These can also involve being in zones where promotion and relegation is not automatic, but subject to a playoff.
An alternate system of league organization, used primarily in Australia, Canada, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United States, is a closed model based on licensing or franchises. This maintains the same teams from year to year, with occasional admission of expansion teams and relocation of existing teams, and with no team movement between the major league and minor leagues. Some competitions, such as the Belgian Pro League in football or the Super League in rugby league, operate hybrid systems which allow for promotion and relegation between divisions but which allocate this based on a mix of financial and administrative scores with competition performance.
- ⭐ Core Definition: Expansion team
- 👉 Expansion team in the context of Promotion and relegation
- Expansion team in the context of New York Mets
- Expansion team in the context of Texas Rangers (baseball)
- Expansion team in the context of Dallas Cowboys
- Expansion team in the context of Miami Heat
- Expansion team in the context of Inter Miami CF
- Expansion team in the context of Vancouver Canucks
- Expansion team in the context of Tampa Bay Rays
- Expansion team in the context of Arizona Diamondbacks
Expansion team in the context of New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in New York City alongside the American League (AL)'s New York Yankees. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed NL teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. The team's colors evoke the blue of the Dodgers and the orange of the Giants.
For the 1962 and 1963 seasons, the Mets played home games at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan before moving to Queens. From 1964 to 2008, the Mets played their home games at Shea Stadium, named after William Shea, the founder of the Continental League, a proposed third major league, the announcement of which prompted their admission as an NL expansion team. Since 2009, the Mets have played their home games at Citi Field next to the site where Shea Stadium once stood.
Expansion team in the context of Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Rangers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. The team was founded as the Washington Senators in 1961, an expansion team awarded to Washington, D.C., after the previous Senators incarnation moved to Minneapolis to become the Minnesota Twins. The new Senators relocated to Arlington, Texas after the 1971 season and debuted as the Rangers the following spring. In 2020, the Rangers moved to the new Globe Life Field after having played at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) from 1994 to 2019. The team's name is derived from a historic law enforcement agency.
The Rangers have made nine appearances in the MLB postseason, seven following division championships in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2015, and 2016 and as a wild card team in both 2012 and 2023. Prior to 2010, the Rangers were the only team in MLB to have never advanced past the first round of the playoffs. In 2010, the Rangers advanced past the Division Series for the first time, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays. The team then won their first American League pennant after beating the New York Yankees in six games; league MVP Josh Hamilton won their first ALCS MVP award for a Ranger player. In their first appearance in a World Series, the Rangers fell to the San Francisco Giants in five games. They repeated as American League champions the following year, but famously lost the 2011 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games after twice being one strike away from winning the series in game six. The Rangers made it to the 2023 World Series and won their first-ever championship, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games, with Corey Seager being the first Ranger player to win the World Series Most Valuable Player Award.
Expansion team in the context of Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and has played its home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, since its opening in 2009. The stadium took its current name prior to the 2013 season, following the team's decision to sell the stadium's naming rights to telecommunications company AT&T.
The Cowboys joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960. The team's national following might best be represented by its NFL record of consecutive sell-outs. The Cowboys' streak of 190 consecutive sold-out regular and post-season games (home and away) began in 2002. The franchise has made it to the Super Bowl eight times, tying it with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, and San Francisco 49ers for second-most Super Bowl appearances in history behind the New England Patriots' record 11 appearances. Their eight NFC championships are tied for most in the conference's history. The Cowboys are the only NFL team to record 20 straight winning seasons (from 1966 to 1985) during which they missed the playoffs only twice (1974 and 1984).
Expansion team in the context of Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Kaseya Center, and has won three NBA championships.
The franchise began play in the 1988–89 season as an expansion team. After a period of mediocrity, the Heat gained relevance in the mid-1990s when Pat Riley became team president and head coach. Riley constructed the trades for Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway, which propelled the team into playoff contention. Mourning and Hardaway led the Heat to four consecutive division titles prior to their departures in 2001 and 2002, respectively. The team also experienced success after drafting Dwyane Wade in 2003.
Expansion team in the context of Inter Miami CF
Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (lit. 'Miami International Football Club'), commonly referred to as Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Inter Miami plays their home matches at Chase Stadium, with plans to move to Miami Freedom Park in 2026.
On January 29, 2018, MLS officially approved an expansion team in Miami. The club garnered international attention prior to their founding because of co-owner David Beckham, and again in 2023 with the signing of Lionel Messi on a free transfer. Since the team began playing in the 2020 season, the club has signed several other high-profile players such as Blaise Matuidi, Gonzalo Higuaín, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Luis Suárez, Rodrigo De Paul, and Sergio Reguilón.
Expansion team in the context of Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Rogers Arena. Adam Foote is the head coach, Jim Rutherford serves as the president of hockey operations and Patrik Allvin serves as the general manager.
The Canucks joined the league in 1970 as an expansion team along with the Buffalo Sabres. The team has advanced to the Stanley Cup Final three times, losing to the New York Islanders in 1982, the New York Rangers in 1994 and the Boston Bruins in 2011. They have won the Presidents' Trophy in back-to-back seasons as the team with the league's best regular season record in both the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. The Canucks have won three division titles as a member of the Smythe Division from 1974 to 1993, seven titles as a member of the Northwest Division from 1998 to 2013, and one title as a member of the Pacific Division in 2024. The Canucks, along with the Sabres, are the two oldest teams in the NHL to have never won the Stanley Cup.
Expansion team in the context of Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in Florida, alongside the National League (NL)’s Miami Marlins. The team plays its home games at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Following nearly three decades of unsuccessfully trying to gain an expansion franchise or enticing existing teams to relocate to the Tampa Bay area, an ownership group led by Vince Naimoli was approved on March 9, 1995. The team began play as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1998 Major League Baseball season.
Expansion team in the context of Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks (often referred to as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established on March 9, 1995 and began play in 1998 as an expansion team. The team plays its home games at Chase Field. Along with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Diamondbacks are one of the newest teams in the MLB and are the youngest team to win a World Series, doing so in only their fourth season of existence in 2001.
After a fifth-place finish in their inaugural season, the Diamondbacks made several off-season acquisitions, including future Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson, who won four consecutive Cy Young Awards in his first four seasons with the team. In 1999, Arizona won 100 games and their first division championship. In 2001, they won the World Series over the three-time defending champion New York Yankees, becoming the fastest expansion team in MLB history to win the World Series and the first and only men's major professional sports team in Arizona to win a championship. 22 years later they won their second NLCS and returned to the World Series, losing to the Texas Rangers.