In 1983, the Blues were set to move to Saskatoon, but were rejected by the Board of Governors.

The Devils were offered a deal from Nashville to move there in 1995 before working out a renegotiated lease with the Coliseum.

The Edmonton Oilers were rumored to be trying to move to Houston in 1998.

The Penguins were almost sold in 2006, and the plans were to move the team to Southern Ontario or Kansas City.

The next year, in 2007, the Predators were nearly sold as well (to the same person as the Penguins) to move THEM to Southern Ontario.

In 2009, that same man attempted to buy the Coyotes, but the league said the declaration of bankruptcy wasn't valid, and the sale was reversed.

Also in 2009, there were rumors about the Islanders moving to Kansas City. Instead, they remained in Long Island until their lease completed in 2015 and moved to Brooklyn.

 

Oh and one I forgot about, the Montreal Canadiens nearly moved to Cleveland in the 1930s!

Let's see, what can I remember here...

NFL:
The Jaguars have been linked to both LA and London recently, while the Raiders were looking at LA and San Antonio before deciding on Vegas. After Katrina, the Saints were also linked to San Antonio and Memphis, I believe.

NBA:
When the Hornets were stolen from Charlotte, they looked at New Orleans, Memphis, and Louisville. The Grizzlies also had a roundabout way of getting to Memphis. They were almost sold to the owner of the St. Louis Blues, but the NBA interfered and the team considered seven cities for relocation: Anaheim, Buffalo, Memphis, New Orleans, Louisville, Las Vegas, and San Diego. The Rockets also looked at relocating to Anaheim in the late '90s. The Timberwolves almost moved to New Orleans in 1995 as well as both Nashville and San Diego. The Kings were potentially moved to not just Seattle but also Anaheim or Virginia Beach (the name Anaheim Royals was even trademarked). The Cavaliers were also almost moved to Toronto in the '70s to be named the Towers, of all things.

NHL:
The Coyotes were nearly moved back to Winnipeg but Atlanta's floundering ownership and arena led the league to point True North to the Thrashers and move them. 

MLB:
The Twins almost moved to Greensboro, of all places, in the late '90s. It almost single-handedly killed interest in Major League baseball in North Carolina so Charlotte was never a serious bid for the Expos, Marlins, or expansion, which sucks. The Pirates nearly went to Denver and Tampa Bay (which also courted the Giants and White Sox). Toronto also almost got the Giants.

NPB:
The Saitama Seibu Lions had considered moving to Sapporo in the early 2000s before the Nippon-Ham Fighters beat them to it. 

Last edited by QCS (6/16/2020 2:13 pm)

Dan O'Mac wrote:

QCS wrote:

NPB:
The Saitama Seibu Lions had considered moving to Sapporo in the early 2000s before the Nippon-Ham Fighters beat them to it. 

I know that they're not, but I can never read the Nippon-Ham Fighters as anything other than a team named the "Ham Fighters".

Technically they're the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters now, after the province Sapporo is in, the Nippon-Ham comes from their parent company. I hate how NPB teams are named after companies, though plenty still have the city name in the whole thing. The only exceptions are the Yomiuri Giants and ORIX Buffaloes, though at least the Giants put Tokyo on the road jersey. Two other teams, the Hanshin Tigers and Chunichi Dragons, take their name from their parent, but since the parent is named after the region the team is in, I'm willing to let it slide.

Dan O'Mac wrote:

QCS wrote:

Dan O'Mac wrote:

I know that they're not, but I can never read the Nippon-Ham Fighters as anything other than a team named the "Ham Fighters".

Technically they're the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters now, after the province Sapporo is in, the Nippon-Ham comes from their parent company. I hate how NPB teams are named after companies, though plenty still have the city name in the whole thing. The only exceptions are the Yomiuri Giants and ORIX Buffaloes, though at least the Giants put Tokyo on the road jersey. Two other teams, the Hanshin Tigers and Chunichi Dragons, take their name from their parent, but since the parent is named after the region the team is in, I'm willing to let it slide.

The Chunichi Dragons you say?
[img]https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wqsv7Zm7jXypQziDLyq0NT565HE=/0x0:4179x2837/1200x800/filters:focal(2384x1259:3052x1927)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66569249/159840233.jpg.0.jpg[/img]

That's the one!