Top 5 cities primed to be relocation targets for NFL team

HOUSTON – With the NFL's biggest relocation bargaining chip off the table, the pool of NFL cities got shuffled and significantly more shallow. And as expected, it's not as sexy with Los Angeles waiting in the front of the line.

But the journey to land the NFL continues in many regions, potentially starting anew in one city that just lost a team (St. Louis) and another that appears likely to lose theirs (San Diego) in the coming weeks and months. Here's a look at the rankings for the next NFL relocation:

1. San Diego: This is predicated on Dean Spanos and the Chargers joining the Rams in Inglewood, which is a likelier scenario now than jumping through the political and financial hoops to get a new stadium in San Diego. If the Chargers leave, it will open a still-attractive market to the next relocation, be it for the Oakland Raiders or an unforeseen team. The roadblocks and motivation to get a new stadium and another team into the market could change significantly once the Chargers are gone. Right now, the hoteliers (and to some extent, Comic-Con) control the political future of the stadium game in San Diego. That could change if the NFL departs and one of the most beautiful markets in America is merely a baseball town. Outside of the significant stadium construction problem, the city has proven it has the ability to support an NFL franchise. That will put it on the list of any considerations.

2. Toronto: With a population roughly the size of Chicago, Toronto has the potential fan base that puts it in the NFL wheelhouse. And it's not a city where you have to sell the game. The Buffalo Bills' Toronto series drew solid crowds for six straight seasons, although those numbers faded as Buffalo consistently presented bad teams in the games. Much like Los Angeles, it's believed that Toronto is a front-running city that would need an owner motivated to keep his team near the top of the standings. But politically it has shown a thirst for an NFL club, and that would make the stadium-building process much easier. And the location and state of the city compare favorably to some of the best large municipalities in the United States.

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3. London: A lot of people talk about London as if it has moved atop the NFL's relocation list now that Los Angeles is off the board. There's no doubt the league would love to expand its brand into a city with worldwide appeal and a market with 8.5 million people. But it's also a pipedream for the NFL until staggering logistical problems are worked out. London is nearly 3,500 miles east of New York and eight hours ahead of the league's West Coast audience. From a geographical standpoint, there are many unanswered questions in how a London franchise could play eight regular-season games a year in the United States. Financially? London and the NFL would make it very much worth an owner's time to move a team across the Atlantic Ocean. But it would be riddled with massive gambles: whether the fan base will hold up through struggles, the financial exchange implications on a salary cap, hurdles in travel, the perceived unfair burden to divisional opponents taking on an annual overseas game are just to name a few. Mexico City would likely be an easier foreign market to target from a proximity standpoint. But the NFL doesn't want to hear that, and it won't stop the continued push to keep London on the agenda. The money-making possibilities and strong NFL support push London far higher up this list than reality suggests it should be.

4. St. Louis: Plenty of Rams fans are wondering if the city will get an NFL team again. Here's a historical fact that will make them feel better: The last city that lost the NFL entirely and never got it back was Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1934. Since then, teams have come and gone, but no market hosting an NFL team has gone permanently vacant. That doesn't mean St. Louis will get another team soon. It means that it will very likely draw the eye of another NFL owner someday. Much like San Diego, a lot of that depends on stadium viability, political support and public outcry to get another team. An economic rebound would be nice, too but that can be said about most major cities in the Midwest.

5. San Antonio/Austin: The Raiders met with officials in San Antonio about a possible move in 2014. That alone keeps the San Antonio/Austin area a candidate for relocation. It supports an NBA team well and has a population that could easily handle an NFL franchise. But there are two significant problems for such a move: namely, the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans. Both have large, firmly entrenched fan bases in Texas. More important, both owners – Dallas' Jerry Jones and Houston's Bob McNair – hold massive political weight in the state. And they also wield far more significant influence inside the NFL than Raiders owner Mark Davis. As one league source put it after the Los Angeles meetings, "As long as Jerry [Jones] and Bob [McNair] don't want a team in San Antonio, there won't be an NFL team in San Antonio. They're not letting that happen."

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