General Forum

Hi,

For team collectors, how do you feel about your favorite team that relocates to another city?

I grew up a fan of the Chargers in NFL, but when they relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles, it was very disheartning and disappointing to me.  It was doubly hard, because it wasn't just some other random city, it was a rival city, and continues to be a rival city (like as in Baseball).

So, if I collect Charger cards, I'm not sure if I'll be enjoying the process, having to constantly see the name of LA next to my Chargers.  Maybe, I'll just collect the older Charger players, when they were still in SD.

Any ideas on how to handle this betrayel, when it comes to collecting?

i was a Browns fan back in the 70s 80s, but once they moved and then became reincarnated -  i no longer was a fan, cant get behind this new team in cleveland, even though they bear the same name, these arent my guys

I was a big fan of the old Oakland Raiders in the 1970s.  When they moved to Los Angeles I was still a fan not just as much.  Eventually I kind of lost interest in football when they returned to Oakland.  I have watched parts of one game now that they are in Las Vegas and it really didn't capture my interest.  I still have some of them old Oakland Raider cards and once in while I will pick up a card of one of my favorites from that time frame like Ray Guy.  Other than that I have no interest in the newer stuff for the Las Vegas Raiders.

I've never experienced one of my teams leaving, but have experienced them coming to my area.

• Washington Senators becoming Texas Rangers
• San Diego Rockets becoming Houston Rockets (this happened before I moved to the Houston area)

My dad was from Dallas and rooted for the Cowboys and KC Chiefs. I later found out that the Chiefs were originally the Dallas Texans. So his allegiance remained. I'm not sure I'd continue rooting for any of my teams if they left.

As a Baltimore Colts fan, the betrayal of their move turned into hatred of the Indianapolis Colts.   Even though not a football collector, I do have some older Colts cards, but definitely none of the Indy players.  I had a few friends who still cheered for the Indianapolis Colts, but most of us looked for other teams to cheer on until the Ravens arrived.

I grew up just outside of Washington DC and I was a senators fan, I couldn't root for Baltimore, next colest team was Philadelphia,but couldn't root for them because they were national league, so that's how I became a Yankees fan.  And wouldn't you know it, just as soon as I moved away from that area, Washington got a new team.  Figures.

It took me a long time to understand that I can like a player/team without having to collect them. That being said, I consider city+nickname to be unique. Not a situation in football for me, but for baseball I have no issue collecting just one version of the team (LA vs SD Chargers for example) because it is easy to find rosters for the players online.

I am a lifetime Rams fan.  I never lost interest in them when they moved to St. Louis, and back to Los Angeles.  I have been very happy with the return.  The Rams are my primarily collecting focus.  I have cards before their move to St. Louis, during their time in St. Louis, and their return to Los Angeles.  

I live in Kentucky, and we have no professional teams in the state.  So for me my fandom isn't really based on location at all.  Growing up I never had A team in baseball or basketball, but in football it was always the Bears and I stayed a Bears fan until I stopped watching the NFL about 10 years ago.  Obviously it was not likely due to the market, but if the Bears had moved from Chicago to LA, I don't really think I would have been affected that much.  But you never know until it actually happens.

When the Rockies joined MLB when I was 17 I attached to them, but I wasn't really a hardcore fan until I got back into card collecting in 2011. If the Rockies moved, I would probably view it as an endpoint for my collecting days.  I would still continues collecting Rockies cards from 1993-the move, but I don't know if I would follow the team to a new place.

As an Expos fan, seeing them in the District is like seeing your ex with another dude.