National Football League Franchise Moves and Mergers - The Case of The Indianapolis Colts

The Case of The Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts have perhaps the most complex history of any football team in the NFL. The Colts can trace their history as far back as 1913, with the founding of the Dayton Triangles. The team then went through the following changes:

• Franchise became a road team in 1924, although it retained the "Dayton Triangles" name.
• Franchise established a permanent home base in Brooklyn, New York and renamed Brooklyn Dodgers in 1930.
• Changed name to Brooklyn Tigers in 1944. In the same year, the Boston Yanks are founded.
• Merged with Boston Yanks in 1945 as the wartime "The Yanks."
• Franchise canceled in 1945 by league and the team's temporary merger with the Boston Yanks is made permanent, as a parallel team (AAFC New York Yankees) is founded by the Tigers' former owner.
• Boston Yanks moved to New York in 1949 and become New York Bulldogs. Renamed New York Yanks in 1950, absorbing much of the former AAFC New York Yankees' roster that year.
• Team dissolved in 1951 and replaced by the Dallas Texans.
• Texans, in turn, became a road team halfway through the 1952 season and were dissolved shortly thereafter; they are replaced by the second incarnation of the Baltimore Colts in 1953, which absorbed the team name of a previous Baltimore Colts franchise, as well as its marching band.
• Baltimore Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom and Los Angeles Rams owner Robert Irsay swap ownership of teams following the 1971 season. (Their heirs continued to own both franchises until 2010, when Rosenbloom's children sold the Rams to Stan Kroenke.) The Rams later move to St. Louis in 1995.
• Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984 to become the Indianapolis Colts, which still play to this day. The marching band stays in Baltimore and associates itself with the Baltimore Ravens when they debut in 1996.

Officially, all of these teams except for the second Baltimore Colts and the Indianapolis Colts are considered separate franchises.