Nothing inspires a local politician to vote for subsidizing a new stadium like the computer-simulated view of the field from his comp seats in the luxury suites.
For a couple of decades the biggest inspiration was hints of the Los Angeles Bengals, Los Angeles Vikings, Los Angeles (full in name of team that wants to shake down the local taxpayers for a stadium). Just by not having a team in LA the NFL got quite a few stadiums. I’m surprised the ever let a team move in because the threat was far more profitable than actual teams. The Portland ____ wasn’t quite as scary. At the time, Portland was the second largest city without a nearby team. Now St. Louis is the biggest.