Franchises fans miss: Revisiting defunct teams on the anniversary of the Seattle SuperSonics sale

Breakups are robust, significantly within the sports activities world.

Typically followers get fortunate and groups relocate throughout the identical metropolitan space to assist easy the transition, à la the Nets shifting from New Jersey to Brooklyn. Different instances followers aren’t as lucky, comparable to when the Warriors moved from Philadelphia to California.

Strikes can occur for a wide range of causes, starting from efficiency within the subject of play to irreconcilable variations between the staff and native leaders, however the feeling stings the identical, whatever the purpose.

On July 18, 2006, probably the most infamous strikes in sports activities historical past was made official when the Seattle SuperSonics have been offered to an Oklahoma Metropolis possession group, and the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder have been born.

Years later, former proprietor Howard Schultz expressed regret concerning the sale.

“Promoting the Sonics as I did is likely one of the largest regrets of my skilled life. I ought to have been keen to lose cash till an area purchaser emerged,” Schultz stated in 2019.

Regardless of calls from NBA followers close to and much, together with NBA champion Klay Thompson, an NBA squad nonetheless has not returned to Seattle almost 20 years later.

Followers throughout skilled sports activities can relate to the eager for a franchise that moved on to greener (or typically lesser) pastures.

NFL — Baltimore Colts

Notable gamers: Raymond Berry, Gino Marchetti, Y.A. Tittle, Johnny Unitas
Yr folded: 1984
Rebranded as: Indianapolis Colts

The Colts operated as an All-America Soccer Convention (AAFC) squad for 3 seasons earlier than becoming a member of the NFL. Baltimore’s stint was short-lived and the staff posted a 1-11 document in its solely yr. Its one-season roster included three Professional Soccer Corridor of Famers.

The franchise then operated because the Dallas Texans for 2 seasons, nevertheless it did not take lengthy for soccer to return to Appeal Metropolis because the second iteration of the Colts arrived in 1953.

Baltimore gained its first NFL championship in 1958 with Johnny Unitas on the helm in “The Best Sport Ever Performed.” The squad made six extra playoff appearances, together with a 1970 Tremendous Bowl victory, within the Unitas period, which led to 1972.

Over the following decade the Colts largely struggled to achieve the identical degree of success. In 1983, John Elway famously refused to hitch the Colts and demanded a commerce when the staff chosen him with the highest choose.

The staff recorded six consecutive dropping seasons in its final years in Baltimore and attendance tremendously suffered earlier than the Colts departed for Indianapolis.

NFL soccer returned to the town in 1996 when the Baltimore Ravens arrived.

WNBA — Houston Comets

Notable gamers: Cynthia Cooper, Kim Perrot, Daybreak Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson

Yr folded: 2008

The Comets have been one of many authentic eight WNBA groups and the league’s first dynasty, successful the primary 4 championships of the league’s existence from 1997 to 2000. The staff was initially owned by Leslie Alexander, who additionally owned the NBA’s Houston Rockets from 1993 till 2017. In January 2007, Alexander offered the staff to Houston businessman Hilton Koch, however staff management was handed to the WNBA shortly thereafter.

The staff in the end folded as a result of new homeowners could not be discovered.

Houston’s dissolution was met with nice criticism from gamers and followers.

“It was a really huge misjudgment on the league’s behalf, within the sense that I simply do not assume that they actually do enterprise correctly and did not worth what that franchise brings,” Tina Thompson stated in 2016.

NHL — Hartford Whalers

Notable gamers: Sean Burke, Ron Francis, Gordie Howe, Mike Liut,
Relocation yr: 1997
Rebranded as: Carolina Hurricanes

Initially often known as the World Hockey Affiliation’s (WHA) New England Whalers, the franchise was admitted to the NHL in 1979 when the leagues merged. The staff was based mostly roughly 100 miles from the regional rival Boston Bruins, which prompted the identify change.

Regardless of the staff’s nice success within the WHA, it took seven seasons earlier than Hartford made the Stanley Cup playoffs for the primary time. In 1986, the Whalers swept a well-recognized foe, the Quebec Nordiques (presently often known as the Colorado Avalanche), for his or her solely playoff sequence win in Hartford.

The franchise departed for a bunch of causes, together with attendance and failed negotiations for a brand new area, however its iconic emblem and catchy “Brass Bonanza” struggle track are among the many relics which have followers hooked even many years after the staff’s departure from the area.

The Hurricanes have honored the franchise’s roots with an annual “Whalers night time” for the reason that 2018-19 season.

MLB — Montreal Expos

Notable gamers: Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Vladimir Guerrero, Tim Raines
Relocation yr: 2004
Rebranded as: Washington Nationals

The primary MLB staff outdoors of the USA was based in 1969 when the league added two growth franchises in every convention. The Expos struggled to supply early of their existence, recording 10 consecutive dropping seasons and posting one playoff look within the strike-shortened 1981 season.

Then-commissioner Bud Selig introduced that MLB would remove two groups in 2001, concentrating on the Expos. The Expos operated as an MLB-owned staff for 2 years, till a brand new possession (and site) was discovered.