List Of Defunct National Football League Franchises
The following is a list and brief history of American football franchises that at one time played in the National Football League (NFL). Note that the list represents NFL franchises that no longer exist, not franchises/teams that relocated. However, during the 1920s it is hard to tell if some teams changed nicknames from year to year or if each nickname represented a new franchise. It was also not uncommon for two or more teams to have the same nickname during the same season. No NFL franchise has folded since 1952. The Buccaneers, Colts, Cowboys, Giants, Lions, Panthers, and Texans franchises listed on this page are not the current franchises of those names.
A defunct team, in this case, refers to a team which has had the rights to have a team returned to the NFL (or league collective at the time). Many defunct teams played in markets still occupied by the NFL with a different team, or in markets which now have substantial fanbases for nearby teams. A notable example is the Green Bay Packers' claim to the Milwaukee area, long after the city's own NFL team, the Badgers, ceased to exist. Also notable is that the city where the league was founded - Canton, Ohio - is now part of the market area for the Cleveland Browns.
- Teams that won an NFL championship are marked with an asterisk (*).
Read more about List Of Defunct National Football League Franchises: 1920s, 1930s, 1940s-1950s, Rejected Franchises
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