Within the Big 4 North American sports leagues, one of the most taboo topics is relocation, when a team relocates from one city to another.
Over in Europe, this is a baffling concept, as European soccer leagues are community projects that play to support their local community rather than for profit, a lot like college sports are here, this is also a large reason why college sports are so popular in the US, which is also a baffling concept to many outsiders.
The North American pro-sports leagues, on the other hand, are far more corporate. While the players play to support the local community, the owners and commissioners are in the game solely for the money, and they're not going to be satisfied having their teams in cities that don't support them, if they can make more money in a different city, chances are, they're going to move a struggling team to that city.
Relocation is definitely a touchy and controversial subject. In some cases it can be a necessary evil if it's righting a previous wrong, or if the wrong will be made right in due time, but in many cases, like with the NFL's recent moves, it's likely to be a complete disaster. I'm going to go over my personal opinion on this subject, looking at each league;

NHL
Out of the Big 4 North American sports leagues, the NHL, at the moment, is the only league where I truly feel relocation is necessary, since they have too many teams in warmer southern zones that don't appreciate hockey as much, while leaving colder northern cities that would love to have a pro hockey team in the dust.
The two teams I definitely feel should be relocated are the Arizona Coyotes and the Florida Panthers.
First I'll start with the Coyotes - Putting a hockey team in the hot desert - what where they smoking? Arizona is a weak sports market as it is, the Cardinals, Suns, and Diamondbacks are having enough troubles already, the last thing Arizona needs is a hockey team. I think the best relocation spot for the Coyotes would be Milwaukee. The team is already being realigned into the Central Division with Seattle getting an NHL team, and the Chicago Blackhawks currently have the best attendance in the league, I'd say putting the Yotes in Milwaukee would do wonders for the league. The rivalry between the Chicago Blackhawks and Milwaukee Coyotes would be heated and epic, there'd be a large number of both home and rogue fans at both stadiums, merchandise sales would go up, up up, they have everything to win and nothing to lose by moving the Coyotes from Glendale to Milwaukee.
Second, the Panthers - Move them to Quebec City and rebrand them as the new Quebec Nordiques, this would put them in a market that appreciates hockey, that would fill the arena and buy the merchandise, would re-initiate a rivalry with the Montreal Habs, and would bring them closer to other Atlantic Division rivals. (After this is done, I'd also recommend having the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets switch divisions so the Lightning's in-division rivals are a lot closer and not so up further north).
As for the other NHL teams, leave them be where they are. I know the Carolina Hurricanes do often come up in discussion about relocation a lot, with many saying they should move back to Hartford and become the Hartford Whalers again, but I personally think the Canes should stay put where they are in Raleigh, or at least just move over to Charlotte, but stay in North Carolina regardless. They've already won a Stanley Cup, their attendance is going up, they're getting better as a team, they have a new owner, North Carolina is getting more people moving in from colder northern regions, and the Tri-State area has enough teams already, they don't need another one. Carolinians just need to warm up to the Canes, just like Dallas did with the Stars, Nashville did with the Predators, and Tampa Bay did with the Lightning, it can work. Plus North Carolina is no stranger to cold weather as it does contain a chunk of the Appalachian Mountains.
If a team is doing bad in attendance, it's more than likely because their team is down and not doing so well at the moment. Give it time, once they become good again, the fans will very likely come back. That was proven with my team, the Colorado Avalanche, they have been doing bad for a while, but now they're doing a lot better (thanks Philip Grubauer  :) ) and their attendance is up as a result, last year it was down at 87.1%, this year it's up at 94.9%. The Ottawa Senators are having attendance issues right now, but once they start doing a lot better, the fans will show. Low attendance should never ever be the sole determining factor as to relocating a pro sports team, because it creates permanent issues at an attempt to solve temporary ones.
So, all in all, just move the Coyotes to Milwaukee and the Panthers to Quebec City, and leave the rest where they are now.

NFL
The NFL has shot themselves in the foot with their last three relocations, so I'd say enough is enough for now. At the very most, I'd say moving the Arizona Cardinals to Portland may not be a bad idea, as it would fill the void between both its division rivals Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, and I feel Oregon would support a pro football team more than Arizona would, but that's more of a take-it-or-leave-it situation. Really, no NFL team needs to be relocated, given the mess they're in with the last three relocations, which I'm gonna go over below.
I was honestly mixed with the St. Louis Rams moving to Los Angeles. On the plus side, it does bring them closer to their in-division rivals, and reduces travel times and emissions and what-not, but I do feel for their loyal St. Louis fans, plus they already won a Super Bowl less than 20 years beforehand, and I believe a SB win should give at least 20 years of "Relocation Insurance".
The San Diego Chargers move to Los Angeles, however, was a complete disaster. They should've at least tried to see how the Rams would do in LA for their first 5 or so seasons before jumping the gun and moving the Chargers there. But no, their boners for the LA market were too dominating, so they moved the Chargers up north, its San Diego fans disowned the team, and the LA market doesn't care for them, every Chargers home game is a road game, the fans of the rogue teams always take over the stadium.
The Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas I feel will actually be a success, I do feel Nevada will embrace the Raiders, as they have shown to embrace their new NHL franchise, the Golden Knights. The Raiders have a very similar logo to the Golden Knights, and the teams bad-boy reputation will indeed go well with Vegas's drinking and gambling culture.
However, I do feel that if the NFL wanted a team in LA, they should've moved the Raiders there firsthand while leaving the Chargers and Rams where they were. LA is definitely Raiders country, they were a hit in LA before, they'd be a hit again had they moved there instead of the Chargers and Rams. It'd be too late to do that now, since the Chargers and Rams are practically stuck where they are as San Diego and St. Louis don't want them back, and LA certainly doesn't need three teams. I also do feel for the Raiders East Bay fans, as they have certainly been the pride and joy for Oakland for many years.
Overall, though, I think the NFL should take some time to learn from these past mistakes, and leave its current teams where they are now. I know many often bring up the Jacksonville Jaguars as a team that should relocate, but Jacksonville is warming up to the team, and their attendance is going up, so even the Jaguars, leave them be where they are in Jacksonville.
Any potential city interested in a pro football team can be covered by the AAF, including international markets such as London, Mexico City, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Dublin.

MLB and NBA
With the NHL joining the NFL in becoming a 32-team league, I feel the NBA and MLB should follow suit by adding two expansion teams each, rather than relocating any teams. The NBA should add expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas, as the Seattle market would love to have their SuperSonics back, and a Vegas NBA team would easily become a hit in the growing Vegas sports market alongside the Raiders and Golden Knights. The MLB should add expansion teams in Nashville and Montreal, the latter would especially love to have their Expos back. The teams that are already there should stay where they are, likely exception being the Sacramento Kings, as moving them back to Kansas City may be for the better, but the rest I believe should stay put. This includes the Tampa Bay Rays, as their woes are largely due to their awful stadium, they just need a new stadium more than anything. If a team is showing low attendance, it's more likely than not because the team is on a losing streak, once they start winning big, the fans will show up. As stated before, low attendance should never ever be the sole determining factor when deciding if or not to relocate a team, just wait until they start doing good again, or look at other issues that can easily be resolved within the team.

So there's my input regarding this subject, what's yours?
Let me know in the comments down below.

If the MLB does get two new teams (to get 32 total), they'd probably have to realign the divisions so that there's four of them in both the NL and AL (eight divisions altogether, with four teams each). I don't see how that would be geographically possible, given that there's only six of them on the actual West Coast (Padres, Angels, Dodgers, Giants, Athletics, Mariners) and one close to there (Arizona Diamondbacks), with the other three current "West" division teams further east (Rockies, Astros, Rangers).

Yeah and MLB is already over saturated. To think back there used to only be 16 teams back in the 50s! No pitch counts, Koufax one season I think had a CG every start, now 6 innings is great!

AZ is not a weak sports market, it has bad teams.

AZ is not a weak sports market, it has bad teams.

Sometimes they play well, though. For example, the Dbacks are playing fairly well this year (at least for the moment).

Sometimes they play well, though. For example, the Dbacks are playing fairly well this year (at least for the moment).


They have. Tough division though with the Dodgers.

They have. Tough division though with the Dodgers.

However, the Dbacks just got swept by the Rockies...who are on their way to Dodger Stadium for a three-game set. (And as stated in the main baseball thread, I'll be at the game tonight.)