Professional football (gridiron) Louis Cardinals moved to Phoenix, Arizona to become the Arizona Cardinals in 1988, while the Houston Oilers very nearly moved to Jacksonville in 1987 before deciding to stay, for the short term, in Houston. In 1993, the NFL began exploring expansion, eyeing five proposals (Baltimore, St. Louis, Memphis, Charlotte and Jacksonville), all of which were in cities that had hosted professional football before. The "Carolina Cougars" (later renamed Carolina Panthers) and Jacksonville Jaguars received franchises to begin play in 1995. At the same time, Al Davis moved the Raiders back to its original home in Oakland for the 1995 season,
Professional football in Canada Canada; in that series, which ran from 2008 to 2013, the Buffalo Bills played one of their regular season home games in Toronto's Rogers Centre. Professional football in Canada Professional football is one of the most popular sports in Canada. Unlike most countries, but paralleling its counterpart, the United States, the term "football" in Canada refers to the gridiron-based game developed in both countries over the course of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and not to association football (which is known in Canada as "soccer"). Only one professional football league has a permanent presence in Canada: the Canadian