NFL Empires: 1925

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperial sports maps, instead of gaining all the loser's land from a victory home or away, the victor only gets territory for an away victory, and just two-thirds of it (or one-third for an away tie).

This is the sixth season of the NFL, starting where the previous season ended and removing teams which folded or took a hiatus (distributing their land to neighbors based on distance to "capitals") and adding the New York Giants and other new teams with new territory (taking a 100-mile radius, except only halfway to a "capital" city of the land the new team is taking).

My data was from Pro Football Reference and most of the logos from Sports Ecyclopedia and SportsLogos.net.

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1925 season:

After a dismal first season, Kansas City (dark teal) conquered wide swaths of land this year. But they actually finished 13th out of 20 teams. The official champions were the Chicago Cardinals (magenta), whose only away game was a tie against the cross-town Bears. Hence, not much territory here.

Here is the map before the season started:

Ah, Duluth. At least you have more land than Milwaukee.

NFL Empires: 1924

This continues my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperial sports maps, instead of gaining all the loser's land from a victory home or away, the victor only gets territory for an away victory, and just two-thirds of it (or one-third for an away tie).

This is the fifth season of the NFL, starting where the previous season ended and removing Canton and others which folded or took a hiatus (distributing their land to neighbors based on distance to "capitals") and adding new teams with new territory (taking a 100-mile radius, except only halfway to a "capital" city of the land the new team is taking).

My data was from Pro Football Reference and most of the logos from Sports Ecyclopedia and SportsLogos.net.

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1924 season:

Duluth (violet) look like champions here, but they actually came in fourth. Cleveland (dark sage green) won in real life but barely made a dent on this map. They only played away twice: a draw at Frankford (tan) and a win at Akron (pale green). Meanwhile, Columbus (orange) also gained a lot of land, despite a 4-4 record.

Here is the map before the season started:

Alas, poor Minneapolis.

NFL Empires: 1923

Continuing my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperial maps, instead of gaining all the loser's land from a victory home or away, the victor only gets territory for an away victory, and just two-thirds of it (or one-third for an away tie).

This is the fourth season of the NFL, starting where the previous season ended and removing Evansville which folded (distributing their land to neighbors based on distance to "capitals") and adding new teams with new territory (taking a 100-mile radius, except only halfway to a "capital" city of the land the new team is taking).

My data was from Pro Football Reference and most of the logos from Sports Ecyclopedia and SportsLogos.net.

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1923 season:

Canton (red) conquered more territory and won the official championship for the second year in a row. The Chicago Bears (light blue) came in second again, but they played their last ten games of their thirteen-game season at home, so they lost territory this year. Even the 1-10 Oorang Indians (bright green) gained territory ... by never playing a home game. Meanwhile the 8-4 Chicago Cardinals (magenta) fell off the map entirely by playing only one road game all season (against the Bears).

Here is the map before the season started:

NFL Empires: 1922

Continuing my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most, instead of gaining all the loser's land from a victory home or away, the victor only gets territory for an away victory, and just two-thirds of it (or one-third for an away tie).

This is the third season of the NFL (the first when they actually called it the NFL), starting where the previous season ended and removing folded teams (distributing their land to their neighbors based on distance to their "capitals") and adding new teams with new territory (taking a 100-mile radius, except only halfway to a "capital" city of the land the new team is taking).

My data was from Pro Football Reference and most of the logos from Sports Ecyclopedia and SportsLogos.net.

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1922 season:

Canton (red) did well this season and actually won the official championship. The Bears (light blue) came in second, but you can barely tell. They didn't play on the road much at all. The bright green on the west coast (and in the Midwest) was the Oorang Indians, a travelling team composed of Native Americans. They won their one and only home game, so they show much better than a 3-6 record would indicate.

Here is the map at the beginning of 1922:

NFL Empires: 1921

I recently saw "empire" maps for professional and college sports, where victors take the territory of the losers. They seem to usually be reset every year, since they get dominated by a few teams, or just one. But I decided it made more sense that the victor only gets territory for an away victory (and not winning at home), and instead of all the land, just two-thirds (and one-third for an away tie).

I thus decided I had to do this with a long-existing league and start at the very beginning. This then is the second season of the NFL, starting where the first season ended and adding new teams with new territory (taking a 100-mile radius, except only halfway to a "capital" city).

My data was from Pro Football Reference and most of the logos from Sports Ecyclopedia.

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1921 season (when it was called the APFA):

Canton (red) really looks like they did well this season, but the Chicago Staleys (light blue) were crowned champions and Canton were also behind Buffalo (purple) and Akron (pale green). The teams did not play an even number of home and away games, so a team like Canton, who played three home games and seven away games (finishing with six away games), can take territory and never put it at risk by losing. Meanwhile, the Staleys played all eleven games at home (none away!), so they can only lose territory and gain none. It might be good for their trophy case, but it's bad in this empire world.

Here is the map at the beginning of 1921:

Seven of these teams played four or fewer games.

NFL Empires: 1920

Somewhat late to the game, I recently saw "empire" maps for professional and college sports, where victors take the territory of the losers. They seem to usually be reset every year, since they get dominated by a few teams, or just one. But I decided it made more sense that the victor only gets territory for an away victory (and not winning at home), and instead of all the land, just two-thirds (and one-third for an away tie).

I thus decided I had to do this with a long-existing league and start at the very beginning. I chose the NFL because it has good data and few games. (I got my data from Pro Football Reference and most of the logos from Sports Ecyclopedia.)

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1920 season (when it was called the APFA):

Akron was the official champion that year, and it shows on the map. Since all the teams were crowded in the Midwest, big swaths of land in the West and South changed hands rather quickly.

Here is the map at the beginning of the 1920 season:

Ah, poor Rock Island.