Many North American

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought l ...

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

s have used the same team name. The list below are names that have been shared by two or more professional sports teams.

Format

Name – location (sport, ''status'') ''Name'' refers to the team name (like Yankees).
''Location'' refers to the city (like Boston), state/province (California), or area (New England).
''Sport'' refers to the sports played by

major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada The major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada commonly refer to the highest men's professional competitions of team sports in those countries. The four leagues traditionally included in the definition are Major League Bas ...

: * football –

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(1920–present), American Football League (1960–1969) *

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

–

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(1917–present),

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

(1972–1979) *

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

–

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, including the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(1876–present) and the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(1901–present) *

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

–

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(1946–present), American Basketball Association (1967–1976) *

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

–

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(1958–present) * soccer –

North American Soccer League (1968–1984) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It was the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the United State ...

, Major League Soccer (1996–present) ''Status'' refers to one of five statuses of the franchise: *defunct – completely folded *moved – changed location, same name *renamed – changed name, same location *moved and renamed – changed name and location *no status listed – team name is currently active

List of currently active franchises with a shared name

* Cardinals – Arizona (football), St. Louis (baseball) * Giants – San Francisco (MLB baseball), New York (football) * Jets – New York (football), Winnipeg (hockey) * Kings – Los Angeles (hockey), Sacramento (basketball) * Panthers – Florida (hockey), Carolina (football) * Rangers – New York (hockey), Texas (baseball)

List of former franchises with a shared name

*Alouettes – Three separate CFL teams in Montreal, but the league considers all of the city's CFL teams to be a single franchise, now represented by the current

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

. *Americans – New York (hockey, defunct), Boston (baseball, renamed), Brooklyn (hockey, defunct) *Athletics – Oakland (baseball), Kansas City (baseball, moved), Philadelphia (baseball, moved) *Blackhawks – Chicago (hockey), Tri-Cities (basketball, moved and renamed) *Blazers – Philadelphia (hockey, moved), * Vancouver (hockey, defunct), Buffalo (soccer, defunct) *Blue Jays – Toronto (baseball), Philadelphia (baseball, renamed) *Blues – St. Louis (hockey), Cleveland (baseball, defunct), Cleveland (baseball, renamed), Hartford (football, defunct), Indianapolis (baseball, defunct) *Braves – Atlanta (baseball), Boston (baseball, moved), Milwaukee (baseball, moved), Buffalo (basketball, moved and renamed), Boston (football, moved) *Brewers – Milwaukee (baseball), Milwaukee (baseball, defunct) *Browns – Cleveland (football), Cleveland (football, moved and renamed), St. Louis (baseball, renamed), St. Louis (baseball, moved and renamed) ** Although the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

are the corporate successor to the first team that played as the Cleveland Browns, the NFL treats the Ravens as a completely separate franchise from the Browns, and considers the current Browns as heirs to the history of the original Browns. See

Cleveland Browns relocation controversy The Cleveland Browns relocation controversy - colloquially called "The Move" by fans - was caused during the 1995 NFL season by the announcement from then-Browns owner Art Modell that he intended to move the Cleveland Browns of the National Foot ...

for more details. *Buccaneers – Tampa Bay (football), Los Angeles (football, defunct), New Orleans (basketball, defunct) *Bulldogs – Canton (football, defunct), Cleveland (football, defunct), New York (football, defunct), Quebec (hockey, defunct) *Bullets – Washington (basketball, renamed), Baltimore (basketball, moved), Capital (basketball, "moved"),

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

(basketball, defunct) ** In the case of the Capital Bullets, "moved" is placed in quotes because the team abandoned the name due to a rebranding, not a physical move. The Bullets adopted the "Capital" name for the 1973–74 season after leaving Baltimore for the immediate Washington area. In that season, they played their first few home games at

Cole Field House The Jones-Hill House is an indoor collegiate sports training complex located on of land on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, a suburb north of Washington, D.C. Jones-Hill House is situated in the center of the campu ...

on the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

campus in College Park before their new home, the Capital Centre in

Landover, Maryland Landover is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 25,998. Landover is contained between Sheriff Road and Central Avenue to the so ...

Broncos A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...

. However, before the WHA's inaugural season in 1972–73, the Broncos' owner died, and the new owners moved the team to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. The Oilers then began play as the Alberta Oilers, intending to split home games between Edmonton and Calgary, but never played a game in Calgary. The team reverted to the Edmonton Oilers name in 1973–74. *Orioles – Multiple teams from Baltimore; see

Baltimore Oriole (disambiguation) The Baltimore oriole is a bird species. Baltimore Oriole(s) may also refer to: Sports Most commonly: * Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball team since 1954 Other teams of this name include: * Baltimore Orioles (1882–1899), an 1882–1899 ...

*Packers – Green Bay (football),

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

(basketball, defunct),

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

(basketball, renamed) *Panthers – Florida (hockey), Carolina (football), Detroit (football, defunct) *Patriots – New England (football), Boston (football, moved) *Pirates – Pittsburgh (baseball), Pittsburgh (hockey, defunct), Pittsburgh (football, changed name to Steelers in 1940) *Pistons –

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

(basketball), Fort Wayne (basketball, moved) *Pros – Akron (football, renamed), Syracuse (football, defunct) *Quakers – Philadelphia (hockey, defunct), Philadelphia (baseball, renamed) *Raiders – Las Vegas (football), Oakland (football, moved), Los Angeles (football, moved), New York (hockey, defunct) *Rams – Los Angeles (football, moved, returned 2016) St. Louis (football, moved), Cleveland (football, moved), *Rangers – New York (hockey), Texas (baseball) *Reds – Cincinnati (baseball), Cincinnati (football, defunct), Cincinnati (baseball, defunct) *Redskins – Washington (football, renamed), Boston (football, moved), Sheboygan (basketball, defunct) *Rockets – Houston (basketball), San Diego (basketball, moved), Denver (basketball, renamed) *Rockies – Colorado (baseball), Colorado (hockey, defunct) *Royals – Kansas City (baseball), Rochester (basketball, renamed), Cincinnati (basketball, moved) *Senators – Ottawa (hockey), Washington (baseball, defunct), Washington (baseball, moved and renamed), Washington (baseball, moved and renamed), Washington (football, defunct), Ottawa (hockey, reverted to amateur status and now defunct) *Sharks – San Jose (hockey), Los Angeles (hockey, defunct) *Sounders – Seattle (soccer), Seattle (soccer, defunct) *Spurs – San Antonio (basketball), Calgary (hockey, defunct) *Stars – Dallas (hockey), Syracuse (baseball, defunct), Utah (basketball, defunct), Philadelphia (USFL football) *Texans – Houston (football), Dallas (AFL football, moved and renamed), Dallas (NFL football, defunct), San Antonio (Canadian football, defunct) *Titans – Tennessee (football), New York (football, renamed) *Timbers – Portland (soccer), Portland (soccer, defunct) *Tigers – Detroit (baseball), Hamilton (hockey, defunct), Chicago (football, defunct), Columbus (football, defunct), Brooklyn (football, defunct) *Tornados – Orange (football, defunct), Racine (football, defunct) *Warriors – Golden State (basketball), Philadelphia (basketball, moved), San Francisco (basketball, renamed) *Whalers – New England (hockey, moved), Hartford (hockey, moved and renamed) *Whitecaps – Vancouver (soccer), Vancouver (soccer, defunct) *Wizards – Washington (basketball), Kansas City (soccer, renamed) *Yankees – New York (baseball), New York (multiple football teams, all defunct) {{DEFAULTSORT:Shared Franchise Names In North American Professional Sports Canada sport-related lists United States sport-related lists