Training Camp (National Football League) - Differences With Baseball

Differences With Baseball

Unlike Major League Baseball spring training, where teams congregate at locations in two states, NFL teams train all over the United States. An increasing number of teams do so in the same facilities at which they practice all year long - 16 teams in 2008. Most of these teams departed distant locations to "come home" for training camp. For example, the Lions' camp was long held at Saginaw Valley State College, the Broncos trained at the University of Northern Colorado, the Patriots at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and the Redskins moved in from Dickinson College, the former site of Carlisle Indian School.

However, it is still fairly common for teams to use somewhat distant locations at the fringes of their markets to promote their team. For instance, the Buffalo Bills moved their training camp from SUNY Fredonia in Fredonia, New York to Saint John Fisher College in suburban Rochester to better capitalize on the Rochester market. Similarly, the New York Jets moved their training camp from Long Island to SUNY Cortland in Cortland, New York. The other New York team, the New York Giants, have held their training camp in Albany for many years. The Arizona Cardinals have trained at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff since the team relocated from St. Louis in 1988. The Dallas Cowboys have historically hosted their training camp in locales very distant from their home market, even before they adopted the moniker "America's Team" in the late 1970s.

Another difference between spring training and training camp is that true intra-squad games do not take place (anymore), though informal scrimmages are very common. Split-squad games never happen in the NFL. It is also fairly common to see two teams hold a short joint camp and scrimmage at a neutral site in addition to their main camp.