How Relocation Works in Madden: Steps and Tips

[APC77002]

In Franchise mode, you can relocate a team to another city, keeping the team name or changing it to one of three pre-selected city-specific team names.

It’s a fun and vital aspect to the game, but I think it’s also confusing because it’s so difficult to understand without explanation.

I had to “sample” and test many franchises before I fully grasped the logic the developers used behind it all.

Along the way, I think I’ve become an expert and can also offer tips and advice and clever things nobody has previously thought about.

Let’s start with: How to Relocate a Franchise

1. When you start a new franchise, you will be able to select the Relocation Parameters in the League Settings menu. (Only in Owner Mode)

You can choose from the following:

(A) Normal – This means that relocation is possible for user and computer controlled teams and qualification is based on whether or not the stadium meets parameters of being ranked on of the lowest in the league (20 rating or below).
* - Computer controlled teams can be relocated without your knowledge if they meet relo guidelines (ex; Chargers, Raiders, Browns, Titans, Jaguars) – the might show up one season as Brooklyn Barons or London Knights.

(B) Users Only – This means that no computer controlled teams will relocate, only user controlled teams can. However, they still have to meet Relocation qualifications of having and outdated stadium.

(C) All Users Only – This means that no computer controlled teams will relocate, only user controlled teams can. And… the system will allow you to relocate any franchise, irrespective of their current stadium situation. (example. You can move the Dallas Cowboys, even though they have a relatively new stadium that is ranked around 99)

(D) Everyone Can Relocate – This means that any user or computer controlled team can relocate at any time, to any city, irrespective of their stadium situation.

(E) Disabled – This means exactly what is sounds like. No one can relocate, you can only build a new stadium in your current city if your current stadium is in bad shape.

It’s important to know the difference between these 5 Relocation Settings, as you might “ruin” your franchise if you don’t realize that the computer just moved the Browns to Brooklyn to become the Barons.

**** --- A key functionality of Relocation is that you can change these settings at anytime in your franchise. So you could move a team to start and then change the settings to “Disabled” to block the rest of the teams for the rest of your franchise. Or you could start with it disabled and then only change the settings during a future season you want to relocate, then change it back. Lots of options there.


2. The process of Relocation can be very confusing, because if you go to your Owner’s menu and select Stadium and then select relocate… nothing really happens. It shows a stadium under construction and says it’ll notify you in a couple of weeks.
In fact, truth is… you don’t even need to do that step.

Here is how you relocate.

This is all available from the Primary Action Items menu.

Pre-Season: N/A
Week 1 N/A
Week 2 N/A
Week 3 N/A
Week 4 N/A
--------------------------------------
Week 5 Choose city
Week 6 Choose team name
Week 7 Choose Uniform (unless you are carrying over the same team name)
Week 8 Choose stadium
---------------------------------------------
Week 9 N/A
Week 10 N/A
.
.
.
Next Season you become your new city and new (or old) team nickname playing in your new stadium

If you get to week 5 and don’t see an option to relocate, its 99% likely that you don’t have your Relocation Settings correctly identified in the League Settings menu.

So it’s really those two main steps, which are simple, but incredibly confusing to figure out if you don’t know what you are looking for.


Tips and cheats
* You technically can only choose 4 options for team names (current name, or 3 city-specific team names)…. But you can get around this if you are willing to fast-forward a franchise a few years. For instance, let’s say I want to move the Jaguars to Memphis to become the Oilers… but the Oilers name only exists to Houston. You can move the Jags to Houston in time for the 2017 season. The team will have to play the 2017 and 2018 season in Houston… but during 2018 you can relocate them again. Hence, the Houston Oilers can become the Memphis Oilers by 2019…. And you can do this with any franchise, over and over.

* When a franchise moves into a new building, they have to play 2 years at that stadium. Anyone playing an offline franchise and using the LA Rams will notice that they won’t have the option of starting relocation of the Rams until the 2018 season, and they won’t play in their new city until 2019. This is because the game is building a new stadium for the team in 2017. And then you must play 2017 and 2018 in that stadium before you are allowed to relocate. I haven’t tested the Minnesota Vikings yet.

The short answer is, yes, you can move those franchises, but you may have to wait 1 or 2 additional seasons.

* If you are on cloud, the Rams stay in LA Coliseum permanently, which means you can treat them like any other franchise and move them in time for the 2017 season.

* There is a “glitch” by the developers where some teams take the city name with them on the wall-art in the stadium. For instance, you move the Arizona Cardinals to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Cardinals… but the walls still say “Arizona Cardinals”. This doesn’t happen for every team. The Chargers, Raiders, Browns are good ones to relocate because they only transfer the name and colors. But the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals and many others take the city name with them on stadium decorations and it completely ruins it for me.

* Some teams have the city name, initials or letter in their logo… and relocating them to another city makes no sense unless you want to change their team name.
- KC Chiefs
- SF 49ers
- Baltimore Ravens (unless you become the Brooklyn Ravens)
- NY Giants
- NY Jets
- Chicago Bears (unless you become the Columbus Bears)
- Houston Texans (Can really only be moved to San Antonio)

* The retractable roof stadium option, never retracts… so essentially it’s just a domed stadium.

Okay, that’s all I can think of for now. But please, feel free to ask any question about relocation. I think I can answer it for you… and if not, I’m certainly willing to test it for you.

[HolyStroke3]

I think I read somewhere that Vegas isn't a relocation option, can you confirm?

[tubaSimulator]

Quote: Originally Posted by HolyStroke3

I think I read somewhere that Vegas isn't a relocation option, can you confirm?

I don't believe Las Vegas is in the game, but if you wanna double check, you can have a look at this video and see for yourself. This is just part 1 of 4 so you might wanna look through all 4 to be sure, but I didn't see Las Vegas in there last time I checked.

[APC77002]

Quote: Originally Posted by tubaSimulator

I don't believe Las Vegas is in the game, but if you wanna double check, you can have a look at this video and see for yourself. This is just part 1 of 4 so you might wanna look through all 4 to be sure, but I didn't see Las Vegas in there last time I checked.

Unfortunately, Las Vegas is not one of the option to relocate a team to.

[stanfordk1d]

Quote: Originally Posted by APC77002

In Franchise mode, you can relocate a team to another city, keeping the team name or changing it to one of three pre-selected city-specific team names. It’s a fun and vital aspect to the game, but I think it’s also confusing because it’s so difficult to understand without explanation. I had to “sample” and test many franchises before I fully grasped the logic the developers used behind it all. Along the way, I think I’ve become an expert and can also offer tips and advice and clever things nobody has previously thought about. Let’s start with: How to Relocate a Franchise 1. When you start a new franchise, you will be able to select the Relocation Parameters in the League Settings menu. (Only in Owner Mode) You can choose from the following: (A) Normal – This means that relocation is possible for user and computer controlled teams and qualification is based on whether or not the stadium meets parameters of being ranked on of the lowest in the league (20 rating or below). * - Computer controlled teams can be relocated without your knowledge if they meet relo guidelines (ex; Chargers, Raiders, Browns, Titans, Jaguars) – the might show up one season as Brooklyn Barons or London Knights. (B) Users Only – This means that no computer controlled teams will relocate, only user controlled teams can. However, they still have to meet Relocation qualifications of having and outdated stadium. (C) All Users Only – This means that no computer controlled teams will relocate, only user controlled teams can. And… the system will allow you to relocate any franchise, irrespective of their current stadium situation. (example. You can move the Dallas Cowboys, even though they have a relatively new stadium that is ranked around 99) (D) Everyone Can Relocate – This means that any user or computer controlled team can relocate at any time, to any city, irrespective of their stadium situation. (E) Disabled – This means exactly what is sounds like. No one can relocate, you can only build a new stadium in your current city if your current stadium is in bad shape. It’s important to know the difference between these 5 Relocation Settings, as you might “ruin” your franchise if you don’t realize that the computer just moved the Browns to Brooklyn to become the Barons. **** --- A key functionality of Relocation is that you can change these settings at anytime in your franchise. So you could move a team to start and then change the settings to “Disabled” to block the rest of the teams for the rest of your franchise. Or you could start with it disabled and then only change the settings during a future season you want to relocate, then change it back. Lots of options there. 2. The process of Relocation can be very confusing, because if you go to your Owner’s menu and select Stadium and then select relocate… nothing really happens. It shows a stadium under construction and says it’ll notify you in a couple of weeks. In fact, truth is… you don’t even need to do that step. Here is how you relocate. This is all available from the Primary Action Items menu. Pre-Season: N/A Week 1 N/A Week 2 N/A Week 3 N/A Week 4 N/A -------------------------------------- Week 5 Choose city Week 6 Choose team name Week 7 Choose Uniform (unless you are carrying over the same team name) Week 8 Choose stadium --------------------------------------------- Week 9 N/A Week 10 N/A . . . Next Season you become your new city and new (or old) team nickname playing in your new stadium If you get to week 5 and don’t see an option to relocate, its 99% likely that you don’t have your Relocation Settings correctly identified in the League Settings menu. So it’s really those two main steps, which are simple, but incredibly confusing to figure out if you don’t know what you are looking for. Tips and cheats * You technically can only choose 4 options for team names (current name, or 3 city-specific team names)…. But you can get around this if you are willing to fast-forward a franchise a few years. For instance, let’s say I want to move the Jaguars to Memphis to become the Oilers… but the Oilers name only exists to Houston. You can move the Jags to Houston in time for the 2017 season. The team will have to play the 2017 and 2018 season in Houston… but during 2018 you can relocate them again. Hence, the Houston Oilers can become the Memphis Oilers by 2019…. And you can do this with any franchise, over and over. * When a franchise moves into a new building, they have to play 2 years at that stadium. Anyone playing an offline franchise and using the LA Rams will notice that they won’t have the option of starting relocation of the Rams until the 2018 season, and they won’t play in their new city until 2019. This is because the game is building a new stadium for the team in 2017. And then you must play 2017 and 2018 in that stadium before you are allowed to relocate. I haven’t tested the Minnesota Vikings yet. The short answer is, yes, you can move those franchises, but you may have to wait 1 or 2 additional seasons. * If you are on cloud, the Rams stay in LA Coliseum permanently, which means you can treat them like any other franchise and move them in time for the 2017 season. * There is a “glitch” by the developers where some teams take the city name with them on the wall-art in the stadium. For instance, you move the Arizona Cardinals to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Cardinals… but the walls still say “Arizona Cardinals”. This doesn’t happen for every team. The Chargers, Raiders, Browns are good ones to relocate because they only transfer the name and colors. But the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals and many others take the city name with them on stadium decorations and it completely ruins it for me. * Some teams have the city name, initials or letter in their logo… and relocating them to another city makes no sense unless you want to change their team name. - KC Chiefs - SF 49ers - Baltimore Ravens (unless you become the Brooklyn Ravens) - NY Giants - NY Jets - Chicago Bears (unless you become the Columbus Bears) - Houston Texans (Can really only be moved to San Antonio) * The retractable roof stadium option, never retracts… so essentially it’s just a domed stadium. Okay, that’s all I can think of for now. But please, feel free to ask any question about relocation. I think I can answer it for you… and if not, I’m certainly willing to test it for you.

Hey APC77002,

Thanks for the info! I am just now trying to relocate a franchise for the first time on Madden 17 and am noticing that multiple cities have less uniform options than advertised. For example, when trying to relocate to Sacramento and become the Condors, they only have ONE uniform option! It goes the same for many other locations, having less uniforms than I've seen anywhere the options have been listed. This is obviously very upsetting to me because I feel like this relocation feature in Madden is already very lacking, but now only having one uniform option in certain cities? That's just ridiculous! Can you confirm this, or do you have any idea why there are missing uniforms? Thanks for any info you can provide!