one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada to place a team outside North America. Additionally, with the increasing suburbanization of the U.S., the building of new stadiums and other team facilities in the suburbs instead of the central city became popular in the 1970s. Timeline Teams making more significant moves, in chronological order The NFL considers these continuous franchises that relocated to different metropolitan areas. The list also includes franchises from the 1960s American Football League that moved during that league's existence. The NFL and AFL agreed to merge in 1966, with the merger taking effect in 1970. All AFL franchises were accepted into the NFL, and the NFL incorporated the AFL's history, records, and statistics. Decatur Staleys: to Chicago in 1921 (renamed the Chicago Bears in 1922) Toledo Maroons: to Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1924 Cleveland Bulldogs: to Detroit as the Wolverines in 1928 Pottsville Maroons: to Boston as the Bulldogs in 1929 Dayton Triangles: to Brooklyn as the Dodgers in 1930 (renamed Brooklyn Tigers in 1944) Portsmouth Spartans: to Detroit as the Lions in 1934 Boston Redskins: to Washington, D.C. in 1937 (renamed Washington Football Team in 2020, Washington Commanders in 2022) Cleveland Rams: to Los Angeles in 1946 Chicago Cardinals: to St. Louis in 1960 Los Angeles Chargers: to San Diego in 1961 (AFL) Dallas Texans: to Kansas City as the Chiefs in 1963 (AFL) Oakland Raiders: to Los Angeles in 1982 Baltimore Colts: to Indianapolis in 1984 St. Louis Cardinals: to Phoenix as the Phoenix Cardinals in 1988 (renamed Arizona Cardinals in 1994) Los Angeles Rams: to St. Louis in 1995 Los Angeles Raiders: back to Oakland in 1995 Houston Oilers: temporarily to Memphis in 1997 as the Tennessee Oilers and permanently to Nashville in 1998 (renamed Tennessee Titans in 1999) St. Louis Rams: back to Los Angeles in 2016 San Diego Chargers: back to Los Angeles in 2017 Oakland Raiders: to Las Vegas in 2020 Quasi-moves: movement of more or less intact teams from one city to another The NFL considers these separate franchises but there is significant continuity from one to the other Canton Bulldogs: mothballed for the 1924 NFL season when the owner of the Cleveland Bulldogs bought it and took the players and nickname to Cleveland. Franchise resurrected in 1925 Cleveland Bulldogs: to Detroit, Michigan in 1928 as the Detroit Wolverines Duluth Eskimos: to Orange, New Jersey