NFL Empires: 1945

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperialism 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).

Before the season, Card-Pitt separated back into two teams, while Brooklyn merged with Boston as the Yanks.

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

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1945 season:

Cleveland (red) won the championship, ending nearly two decades of Green Bay/Chicago imperial domination. Cleveland won wherever they traveled, except at Philadelphia (dark green) (who were unbeaten at home, but not nearly so good on the road). Washington (gold) won the Eastern Division, but that didn't account for much land gained.

Here is the map before the season started, back in the days of baby bear blue:

Now that Cleveland won a championship, they're going to start a dynasty, right? Right?

NFL Empires: 1944

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperialism 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).

Due to World War II and depleted rosters, Pittsburgh and the Chicago Cardinals merged teams for one season (known as "Card-Pitt", which sounded a lot like "carpet" if you asked the newsmen). The Cardinals had no land to start the season, but any territory gained by the team was split evenly between the two (not that they won any games). Victorious opponents could take land from either (ie, just Pittsburgh). Philadelphia resumed playing games on their own.

After one year away, Cleveland returned to the league, while Boston was added as an expansion team. I gave the new/returning teams the land within a 100-mile radius of their capitals.

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

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1944 season:

Green Bay (light green) won the championship game over New York (dark blue), played in New York. New York didn't have much land before the game, since the Eastern Division as a whole didn't have much land before the season (and eight of ten games were in their division). Chicago (light blue) and Detroit (purple) tied for second in the West.

Here is the map before the season started:

Chicago is faltering!

NFL Empires: 1943

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperialism 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).

Due to World War II, Cleveland went on hiatus. Their land has been distributed to the neighbor with the nearest capital. Also, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh merged teams for one season (known by fans as the "Steagles"). Philadelphia had no land to start the season, but any territory gained by the team was split evenly between the two. Victorious opponents could take land from either. Only eight teams participated in the 1943 NFL season, the second and last time the league reached that nadir.

This season was the first year of free substitutions, due to depleted rosters. Before 1943, players played both offense and defense, but from this year forward, specialization became the name of the game. Also in 1943, helmets became mandatory.

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

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1943 season:

Despite all the league changes, not much changed on the map. The Chicago Bears (light blue) continued to dominate. They took more land and won the championship over Washington (gold). Green Bay (light green) came in second in the West while New York (dark blue) came in second in the East (losing a tie-breaking playoff with Washington). The three teams with losing records had no land.

Here is the map before the season started:

Bear with a football, run run run!

NFL Empires: 1942

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperialism 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).

There were no changes to the teams between seasons, so the 1942 map starts where 1941 left off.

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

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1942 season:

The Chicago Bears (light blue) went undefeated in the regular season, which meant a lot of land gained and held. Washington (gold) won the Eastern Division and beat Chicago in the championship game. The game was in Washington, though, so no land changed hands. Green Bay (green) was second in the West, which was enough to maintain a large empire.

Here is the map before the season started:

The West dominates.

NFL Empires: 1941

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperialism 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).

There were no changes to the teams between seasons, so the 1941 map starts where 1940 left off.

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

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1941 season:

Green Bay (green) gained a lot of ground, but they didn't get to play in the championship game. They finished the season tied for first in the Western Division with the Chicago Bears (light blue), but the Bears won the playoff game (played in Chicago), then the Bears won the championship game versus New York (dark blue), also played in Chicago. So Chicago didn't gain land from those two games.

Here is the map before the season started:

When, oh when, will the Packers/Bears dominance end?

NFL Empires: 1940

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperialism 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).

There were no changes to the teams between seasons (other than the Pirates becoming the Steelers), so the 1940 map starts where 1939 left off.

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

Here then is the map of the NFL empires after the 1940 season:

The Chicago Bears (light blue) won the championship, beating Washington (gold) in the championship game 73-0. That is the most points scored by one team in any NFL game in history, and thus naturally also the largest margin of victory. The game was in Washington, giving Washington their first home loss of the season, and thus giving Chicago a lot of land on the map. What's crazy is that just three weeks earlier in the same stadium, Washington had beaten Chicago 7-3.

Here is the map before the season started:

Philadelphia only won one game all season, but it was at home, so they failed to gain any land.

NFL Empires: 1939

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperialism 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).

There were no changes to the teams between seasons, so the 1939 map starts where 1938 ended.

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 1939 season:

Green Bay (light green) won the championship game at home over New York (dark blue). Green Bay lost early at home to Cleveland (red), who finished 5-5-1, so the champions actually lost ground this year. New York expanded their territory while the Chicago Bears (light blue) gained ground as second place in the West and Washington (gold) held most of their land as second place in the East.

Here is the map before the season started:

The Cardinals lost their Inyo.

NFL Empires: 1938

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperialism 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).

There were no changes to the teams between seasons, so the 1938 map starts where 1937 ended.

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 1938 season:

Everyone gets some land! New York (dark blue) won the championship game over Green Bay (light green), although the game was in New York, so Green Bay held their land. Green Bay had an early losses to the Chicago Bears (light blue) and Detroit (purple), but managed to gain most of it back later in the season. The other big landholder, Washington (gold), second place in the East, had an early draw with Brooklyn (medium blue), who promptly lost to Pittsburgh (yellow), who finished with a 2-9 record, so that spread the land around nicely.

Here is the map before the season started:

NFL Empires: 1937

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperialism 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).

Cleveland (red) joined the league and received a 100-mile radius of land (except only halfway to "capitals" of the land they got). Boston (gold) moved to Washington and received a similar blob of land. (They also technically lost 1/3 of their previous land, but the Maine counties are so large that it was less than a full county lost, so they got it all back.)

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 1937 season:

Almost every county changed hands this season. Washington had a good year in their new home. They won the Eastern Division and then beat the Chicago Bears (light blue) in the championship game in Chicago. The rest of the Eastern Division only held five counties between them (New York (dark blue), Philadelphia (dark green), Brooklyn, and Pittsburgh). Green Bay (light green) came in second in the West.

Here is the map before the season started:

See? Cleveland is red! [Of the Rams' colors through history, dark blue was already taken by New York, yellow by Pittsburgh, gold by Washington, and white isn't a color. I ended up taking the red from the city flag. ... I've already forgotten why the Cardinals aren't cardinal.]

NFL Empires: 1936

This is a continuation of my "empire" maps (where victors take the territory of the losers) of the NFL. Different than most such imperialism 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).

1936 was the first year in the NFL's history that no teams were added and no teams folded before the season. It was also the first year that the teams all played a balanced schedule, so losing teams could no longer hold onto territory on my map by never playing at home.

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 1936 season:

Green Bay (green) were the champions, beating Boston (gold) in the championship game. The Eastern Division ended the season with ridiculously little land. The Chicago Bears (light blue) came in second in the West.

Here is the map before the season started, exactly the same as 1935 ended: