The Top Five Teams to Start a Franchise With in Sports Gaming

[jmik58]

I'm not a fan of using top tier teams that are already established. I like picking middle of the road teams in NCAA, and cellar dwellers in the pro games where a salary cap is in force.

Decent picks though if you're looking for immediate success that sticks for a while.

[shaolinisland]

Am I missing something here? I thought this website was dedicated to hardcore sports gamers who spend their times building up their franchises from the ground up. I would much rather start with a horrible team with maybe one or two interesting prospects than have all the pieces in place. This list should be named the worst teams to begin a franchise with.

[The Amaizen Blue]

The Lions aren't on here? It's fun taking their young roster and making something good out of it.

[Bubba_Zanetti]

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! I think that's the problem with the younger generation and video games -- instant gratification is expected and then the complaining the game is too easy. If they can't make a top team an instant winner then the game isn't playing fair. Here's a better list:

FIFA - Hereford United (English League 2 team). Try getting them into the Premier League.

NBA - Cleveland Cavaliers. Post LeBron era starts now.

NHL - NY Islanders. Good young talent, severely mismanaged.

NFL - Detroit Lions. The core is there.

MLB - Pittsburgh Pirates. Get them to .500 baseball. Then call Satan and see if hell has frozen over.

NCAAFB - Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Win Sun Belt, get invite to BCS conference and so on...

Challenge yourself and get your 60 bucks worth.

[Dave Pearson]

This is for instant success, the teams that are best set up for a dynasty. I stated this in the beginning of the article. This is NOT which teams would be the most fun to use. That is a completely different topic that I will write about in the future.

Yes, I wrote this article BEFORE Crawford and BEFORE Lee signed with the Phillies. The Rays were chosen because they have the most cost controlled talent in the game.

[Dave Pearson]

Sorry, but these are some terrible suggestions. Why would you want to pick a powerhouse to do a dynasty with? It's so much better to do one with a terrible team to make them great. What's the challenge with Miami? To see if Lebron's ego can fit through the door?

You're missing the point of the article. I'm not stating that these are the most entertaining teams to use, simply the best teams that are set up for a long term dynasty. To each his own, I suppose.

[uclabruins87]

Alright packers!

[psymin1]

Good article, and seeing as I suck in NBA, I will probably use one of your options you've listed. But, I am way more interested in reading your next article relating to this, where you cover the best teams to build on for future success. Nice job, though.

[JustinSainn]

Question about FIFA, what MLS team do you think would be the best choice? Nothing against the foreign teams and I realize almost all of them are better but I just prefer to stay with the places I know and can better relate to. Problem is, I don't follow soccer enough to know who the best long term option would be.

[Oriolesmagic]

Good article, the only thing I didn't like was that it was focused mostly on good teams. I personally prefer to use a awful team and try to manage them to victory. Maybe another article based on that would be a good idea?

Just a thought.

[daniverson1973]

i dont do NHL or FIFA, but i couldnt agree more with the other 3 sports teams
in franchise, packers get real good real quick, and stay that way for years, rodgers, finley, raji, matthews, dominate at their positions
you cant go wrong with the heat in NBA2K, yeah theyre cap-strapped, but it doesnt matter, as long as the big three are healthy, the chemistry they develop over time in assoc.mode, makes them a 7 year nba finals contender, no matter who you sign off d-league or cheap, old FA's
i havent played the show in a while, but when i did, i couldnt go wrong with my young Rays
their pitching becomes the best in MLB after 2 years

[The Steel Curtain]

Re: The Top Five Teams to Start a Franchise With in Sports Gaming

I couldn't agree more with your choice for the Packers as a great team to start a franchise with. I also think the Eagles would be a great choice. They've got some fantastic young receivers in Jackson & Maclin, a solid running game with McCoy, and a young defense with loads of potential. Then there's Michael Vick, and although he would probably retire in a few years time (in-game), it's still going to give the user a couple of years to use Vick and have some great enjoyment with it.

[Seahawk76]

I personally don't see the fun in starting a franchise with cheeser's teams like the Heat or Barcelona. It's a lot more interesting to build up bad teams, IMO. To each his own, I guess.

[nickaepi]

Pick any team in Football Manager and run a franchise. That's where you'll grow a set.

[The Police]

Not nessacarily the best teams but most fun teams to play with, don't have NBA or FIFA so...

NHL - Minnesota Wild or Tampa Bay Lightning. I was thinking Chicago and Washington but they're already really good and I like building teams and setting my personal touch on them. Minnesota has a great goalie and defense which makes for some interesting, low scoring games. The Lightning have Stamkos, St. Louis, Lecavalier and lots of cap space.

NFL - The only non-sim franchises I ever do are with the Lions, a great pick with all of their studs on offense and it's almost as fun to play defense with Delmas and Suh. What I really like though is picking a team with a glaring hole at QB (like the Bills, for example) and maybe not do very good my first season but draft a franchise QB and watch him grow into a star and a franchise player and say "I picked that guy." It may not be very fun the first season or two though.

MLB - I really like picking bad teams because it's a lot of fun to build them up in The Show but teams like Pittsburgh are almost impossible. I like rolling with the Orioles (guys like Wieters, Jones, Markakis, Roberts, Matusz), Athletics (great farm system and pitching but pretty much no offense if that's your thing), Marlins (Hanley, Uggla, Stanton, Morrison, Johnson, Dominguez, ect.) or Nationals (Strasburg, both Zimmermans, Dunn, Storen, that young catcher with A potential . . . plus they get the No. 1 pick in 2010 draft)