Okay, so the other day I was thinking, “Man, I gotta get a better handle on where all these NFL teams play.” You know, just for general knowledge and maybe to plan a few road trips in the future. So, I decided to put together a map of all the NFL teams in the USA.
First off, I started digging around to find a list of all 32 teams. It’s a good thing there are tons of resources online, because I can remember most of them, but not all. I needed to grab some basic info like team names and the cities they call home. I found some good stuff that showed each team’s location, their stadium’s address, and which division they’re in, like AFC East, NFC West, all that good stuff.
After gathering all the teams and their locations, I started to piece together a map. I wanted it to be interactive, the kind where you can zoom in and out, and click around to see details. Initially, I found some simple maps online, but they weren’t quite what I was aiming for. I wanted more than just dots on a map—I needed those dots to tell a story, to give me the name of the stadium, the team’s full address, and all that.
I played around with a few different mapping tools. It was a bit of trial and error. I’d plot a team, zoom in, check the details, and tweak things here and there. Some teams were easy, like the Dallas Cowboys, everyone knows where they are. Others, not so much. Turns out, Buffalo Bills, for example, don’t even play in Buffalo – they’re in Orchard Park.
- Step 1: I grabbed a list of all 32 NFL teams and their locations.
- Step 2: I started putting dots on a map for each team.
- Step 3: I made sure each dot had all the info – team name, stadium, address.
- Step 4: I tweaked and adjusted until it looked right.
- Step 5: I realized some teams have interesting locations, like the Bills.
It took a bit of time, but I finally got it all sorted out. Now, I’ve got this cool map that not only shows where each team is, but also gives a bit of insight into the geography of the NFL. It’s pretty neat to see how spread out some divisions are, and how clustered others are.
I also noticed that this map shows the location of 151 Major League Sports Franchises across the USA and Canada. This made me think about how cool it would be to expand this project to include other sports, maybe one day!
Anyway, it was a fun little project. Now, when football season rolls around, or if I’m planning a trip, I’ve got this handy map to reference. Plus, I learned a bunch about the NFL and where these teams actually play. If you’re a football fan, I definitely recommend doing something like this. It’s a great way to get to know the league a little better!
What I learned
I learned that mapping out all the NFL teams is a surprisingly fun way to get a better sense of the league’s geography. It’s also a cool way to learn some trivia about team locations. I realized that the project can continue to evolve. For instance, I could add historical data on team relocations or even expand to include other sports leagues. It’s a project that can grow with my interests and available time. I found that the process of mapping the teams sparked a new level of interest in the NFL for me.
