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The problem with Southern teams, is that there are a lot of transplants there who still root for their old teams, and don’t get behind the local teams.

That goes triple for Phoenix. The Cardinals are technically the oldest NFL team, but judging from bumper stickers, shirts and talking to coworkers and folks at church, the allegiances stay with the old team. That is partly because the NFL encouraged teams to have a national following. My classmates in the '70s who lived in CT rarely supported the loser Giants. Our dads did. We rooted for the Steelers, Dolphins, Vikings, Cowboys, etc. I rooted for the Rams, because Reagan was from California, I liked the horns and blue/gold, and DESPISED the Cowboys, so I betray no locality when I never had a local allegiance to begin with.

Here in Phoenix there are Packer bars, Steeler bars, Browns bars. Pretty much everybody except Tampa Bay (they probably do not move to Phoenix). I have a Rams barber. He is not a transplant, but he is old enough that he was a Rams fan before the Cards moved. Some Cowboys and Raider fans are similar.

To grow a fan base, you need to get a Tom Brady, win for an extended period, and build a national fan base. The locals get thrown in as a bonus.