An expansion draft, in professional

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

s or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansion draft. Although how each league conducts them varies, and they vary from occasion to occasion, the system is usually something similar to the following: Each existing team is told it can "protect" a certain number of its existing contracted players by furnishing their names to the league office on or before a certain date. The expansion team(s) then are allowed to select players not on the protected lists in a manner somewhat similar to an entry

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a ves ...

. There are generally a maximum number of players that can be selected from any one team, at least without the team losing the player receiving something in compensation such as a future entry draft pick. Teams subject to losing players usually tend to put most if not all of the players they truly need to stay competitive on the protected list. This means that the expansion franchise is usually left to choose among players who are old, injury prone, failing to develop as the teams had intended, or perhaps so highly compensated that a team wishes to remove them from the payroll. For this reason, expansion teams are often noncompetitive in their early years in a league, although the advent of the

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

system has modified this somewhat.

Marc-André Fleury Marc-André Fleury (born November 28, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) first overall by the Pittsbur ...

, who won three Stanley Cups with the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have play ...

, is a notable exception of a star player in their prime being left exposed in an expansion draft, being made available for the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an exp ...

in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft after Fleury was made expendable due to the rise of Matt Murray at goaltender. The rules of the draft can be tweaked by the league to make the expansion team more competitive if that is the business objective of the league's expansion. Most teams seem to try largely to make a team which will serve until it can begin to develop its own talent, although occasionally players discarded by their old teams benefit from the change in environment and become stars, either again or for the first time. A similar process occurs when an existing franchise is disbanded and the players contracted to it become available to the remaining teams; this process is referred to as a dispersal draft.

Expansion drafts

American football

* 1960 NFL expansion draft * 1961 NFL expansion draft * 1966 NFL expansion draft *

1967 NFL expansion draft The 1967 National Football League expansion draft was a National Football League (NFL) draft held on February 9, 1967 in which a new expansion team named the New Orleans Saints selected its first players. On November 1, 1966 (All Saints Day), NFL ow ...

* 1976 NFL expansion draft * 1995 NFL expansion draft * 1999 NFL expansion draft *

2002 NFL expansion draft The 2002 National Football League expansion draft is the most recent National Football League (NFL) draft in which a new expansion team, named the Houston Texans, selected its first players. On October 6, 1999, in Atlanta, NFL owners had unanimou ...

Australian rules football

1986 VFL draft The 1986 VFL draft was the third formal draft to provide recruitment opportunities to clubs participating in Australian rules football's elite Victorian Football League. Held on 26 November 1986 after the end of the 1986 VFL season, it consisted ...

– one of the two expansion teams, the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Footbal ...

, was exempt from the draft until 1988 as part of their agreement to enter the VFL. * 1994 AFL draft * 1996 AFL draft – actually an expansion and dispersal draft, as Port Adelaide entered the AFL for the 1997 season, while the Brisbane Bears took over Fitzroy's operations after Fitzroy had folded at the end of round 22. * 2010 AFL draft * 2011 AFL draft

Baseball

Baseball expansion was initially hastened by the threat of a competing league, known as the

Continental League The Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs (known as the Continental League or CL) was a proposed third major league for baseball in the United States and Canada. The league was announced in 1959 and scheduled to begin play in the 19 ...

. *

1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1960 MLB expansion draft was held by Major League Baseball on December 14, 1960, to fill the rosters of the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators. The Angels and Senators (who later became the Texas Rangers) were new franchises tha ...

* 1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft *

1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft was conducted to stock up the rosters of four expansion teams in Major League Baseball created via the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion and which would begin play in the 1969 season. The expansio ...

1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1976 MLB Expansion Draft was held November 5, 1976. This expansion draft was conducted by Major League Baseball to stock the major league rosters of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners, new major league expansion franchises establi ...

* 1992 Major League Baseball expansion draft *

1997 Major League Baseball expansion draft On November 18, 1997, Major League Baseball (MLB) held an expansion draft to allow two expansion teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, to build their rosters prior to debuting in the National League West and American ...

Basketball

NBA

There have been 11 expansion drafts in

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

history. The most recent expansion draft was in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

when the

Charlotte Bobcats Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populous ...

(now

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

) joined the league as the 30th team.

NBA Development League

2006 NBA Development League expansion draft The 2006 NBA Development League expansion draft was the first expansion draft of the National Basketball Association Development League (NBADL). The draft was held on September 19, 2006, so that the newly founded Colorado 14ers, Bakersfie ...

2007 NBA Development League expansion draft The 2007 NBA Development League expansion draft was the second expansion draft of the National Basketball Association Development League (NBADL). The draft was held on September 5, 2007, so that the newly founded Rio Grande Valley Vipers, F ...

2008 NBA Development League expansion draft The 2008 NBA Development League expansion draft was the third expansion draft of the NBA G League, National Basketball Association Development League (NBADL). The draft was held on September 24, 2008, so that the newly founded Reno Bighorns an ...

* 2009 NBA Development League expansion draft *

2010 NBA Development League expansion draft The 2010 NBA Development League expansion draft was the fifth expansion draft of the National Basketball Association Development League (NBADL). The draft was held on August 31, 2010, so that the newly founded Texas Legends could acquire play ...

2013 NBA Development League expansion draft The 2013 NBA Development League expansion draft was the sixth expansion draft of the National Basketball Association Development League (D-League). The draft was held on August 29, 2013, so that the newly founded Delaware 87ers could acquir ...

* 2014 NBA Development League expansion draft *

2015 NBA Development League expansion draft The 2015 NBA Development League expansion draft was the eighth expansion draft of the National Basketball Association Development League (D-League). The draft was held on August 20, 2015, so that the newly founded Raptors 905 could acquire p ...

PBA

1990 PBA Expansion Draft The 1990 PBA Expansion Draft was the first expansion draft of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The draft was held before the start of the 1990 PBA season, so that the newly founded teams Pepsi Hotshots and Pop Cola Sizzlers could acqu ...

2000 PBA Expansion Draft The 2000 PBA Expansion Draft was the second expansion draft of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The draft was held in December 1999, so that the newly founded team Batang Red Bull Energizers could acquire players for the 2000 PBA seaso ...

2014 PBA Expansion Draft The 2014 PBA Expansion Draft is the third expansion draft of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The draft was held on July 18, 2014, so that the newly founded teams Blackwater Elite and the Kia Sorento could acquire players for the 201 ...

Canadian football

* 2002 CFL Expansion Draft *

2013 CFL Expansion Draft The 2013 Canadian Football League Expansion Draft was a three-round CFL Draft that took place on Monday December 16, 2013. It was designed to assign players from existing CFL teams to the expansion Ottawa Redblacks. The structure of the draft w ...

Ice hockey

There have been 13 expansion drafts in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

, including the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

draft following the

NHL-WHA merger The 1979 NHL expansion was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA) that resulted in the WHA and its six surviving franchises folding in return for the owners ...

. The most recent draft was in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, involving the

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. ...

Soccer

1997 MLS Expansion Draft The 1997 MLS Expansion Draft was held November 6, 1997. Two teams participated, the Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion F.C., both expansion Major League Soccer clubs starting play in the 1998 season. Format Each team in the league made ten players, in ...

2004 MLS Expansion Draft The 2004 MLS Expansion Draft was held on November 19, 2004 and consisted of 10 rounds. The two new teams, Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake, drafted players from the other 10 Major League Soccer teams. Existing MLS teams were allowed to protect 12 p ...

2006 MLS Expansion Draft The 2006 MLS Expansion Draft, held on November 17, 2006 was a special draft for MLS expansion team Toronto FC. Toronto FC selected 10 players from a pool of players from current MLS clubs. Format * Only one player could be selected from each team. ...

2007 MLS Expansion Draft The 2007 MLS Expansion Draft was held on November 21, 2007, and is a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, Californ ...

2008 MLS Expansion Draft The 2008 MLS Expansion Draft took place on November 26, 2008, and was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team Seattle Sounders FC. They made 10 selections from a pool of players from the other 14 MLS clubs. FormatSource * Only ...

2009 MLS Expansion Draft The 2009 MLS Expansion Draft took place on November 25, 2009, and was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team Philadelphia Union. FormatSource * Only 1 player may be selected from each team. Five of the league's 15 current teams ...

2010 MLS Expansion Draft The 2010 MLS Expansion Draft took place on November 24, 2010, and was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion teams Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer clu ...

* 2011 MLS Expansion Draft *

2014 MLS Expansion Draft The 2014 MLS Expansion Draft was a draft for the Major League Soccer expansion teams New York City FC and Orlando City SC that took place between November 19 and December 10, 2014. The first two rounds of the draft (which were known as the 2014 MLS ...

* 2016 MLS Expansion Draft * 2017 MLS Expansion Draft * 2018 MLS Expansion Draft *

2019 MLS Expansion Draft The 2019 MLS Expansion Draft was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion teams Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC that was held on November 19, 2019. On October 6, 2019, Inter Miami CF won the coin toss for the Expansion Priority Dr ...

2020 MLS Expansion Draft The 2020 MLS Expansion Draft was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team Austin FC that was held on December 15, 2020. The list of players available for selection was released on December 14, 2020. Format Teams who had playe ...

References

External links

Major League Baseball Historical Expansion Drafts
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