Baltimore Colts relocation to Indianapolis

In May 1969, the city of Baltimore announced it would seek a substantial increase in Memorial Stadium rental fees from Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom and the team itself.

[2] Rosenbloom even considered using $12–20 million of his own money to help fund the building of a new football-only stadium on land in adjoining Baltimore County.

[3] By November 1971, Rosenbloom announced that the Colts would not return to Memorial Stadium when their lease ran out following the 1972 season and that he was not interested in negotiating with the city anymore.

For an estimated $78 million, the city would build a facility that would have kept all parties happy: Orioles owner Hoffberger, Colts owner Irsay, the Stadium Complex Authority (whose Chairman Edmond Rovner reiterated in 1972 that "A major consideration in Mr. Irsay's trading of franchises was the city's firm commitment to proceed with these plans.

[4] However, the proposal did not receive support to pass the Maryland legislature, in spite of assurances that contributions from taxpayers would be limited strictly to city and state loans.

"[6] In 1979, Hoffberger sold the Orioles to Washington, D.C. attorney Edward Bennett Williams, who declared 1980 to be a trial year for the fans of Baltimore.

That same year Irsay presented Maryland Governor Harry Hughes with a request for $25 million in renovation to the 64,124 seat Memorial Stadium.

In the middle 1970s when the NFL was planning its expansion from 26 to 28 teams — an agreed part of the NFL/AFL merger — Indianapolis was one of ten cities considered.

[9] It was considered a strong candidate because it was located at the junction of more major highways than any other city and had a large population in both the metropolis and surrounding rural areas.

[14] Irsay continued discussions with several cities hungry for an NFL franchise including Phoenix, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Memphis, and Birmingham.

Phoenix was offering a below market rate $15 million loan and rent-free use of the 71,000–seat Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University.

As a result of that announcement, Indiana Pacers' owner Herb Simon contacted Colts officials in order to take negotiations between the club and Indianapolis to the next level.

[8] Chernoff said of the move by the Maryland legislature: "They not only threw down the gauntlet, but they put a gun to his head and cocked it and asked, 'Want to see if it's loaded?'

Smith sent fifteen Mayflower trucks to Owings Mills, arriving at the Colts' facility at around 10 p.m. Irsay and Hudnut wanted to move quickly because they feared that the Maryland House of Delegates would approve and Maryland Governor Harry Hughes would sign the eminent domain bill, allowing the state to seize the team the following morning.

[23] Later that day, the House of Delegates did indeed pass the bill by a count of 103–19 and Governor Hughes signed it, but by that time it had no practical effect of greater consequence than permitting the seizure of the vacant and empty Owings Mills facility.

[8] Later John Moag Jr., chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority, stated in sworn testimony before the U.S. Senate subcommittee responsible for the Fan Freedom and Community Protection Act: "It was the failure of our local (Baltimore) and state elected officials in Maryland to provide the Colts with a firm proposal for a new stadium that led Mr. Irsay to accept an offer from Indianapolis to play in a new dome in that city.

However, the amendment's author (Hyman Pressman) remained as an elected city comptroller for 28 years (seven terms in a row) until retiring in 1991.

[17] The Colts' move prompted city and state officials to redouble efforts to retain Baltimore's remaining major-league team, the Orioles.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a facility designed specifically for baseball, was constructed near the proposed Baltodome site and opened in 1992.

According to an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary called The Band That Wouldn't Die, directed by Baltimore native Barry Levinson, band leaders received advance warning that the team was being moved from Baltimore to Indianapolis overnight and were able to remove their equipment from team headquarters before the moving vans arrived.

For the next 12 years, the band stayed together, playing at football halftime shows and marching in parades, eventually becoming well known as "Baltimore's Pro-Football Musical Ambassadors".

He also initially refused to adopt a new nickname and tacitly encouraged fans to continue to call the Baltimore Football Club the "Colts".

The Colts' former marching band joined the new team while fans in Baltimore, still embittered with the NFL, embraced the distinctive Canadian game to a level not repeated anywhere else in the U.S.

Moreover, unlike the Stars, the new CFL team was able to use Memorial Stadium in spite of playing a summer-to-fall schedule, due to the Orioles' departure—because of its multipurpose configuration, Memorial Stadium was even able to house the considerably longer and wider Canadian field, which in turn meant that issues such as poor sightlines were a less serious problem for the CFL franchise.

Like the Stars, the Baltimore Football Club was successful both on the field and at the box office, decisively leading the CFL's U.S. teams in attendance.

As badly as they wanted to see the NFL return, they were uneasy at the prospect of taking Cleveland's football history in a manner that seemed similar to how they believed Irsay had taken the Colts' legacy with him to Indianapolis.

Eventually, Modell agreed to a settlement that granted him an "expansion" franchise in Baltimore that in turn would assume the then-current Browns' contracts, and would also inherit most of its personnel.

While Modell had briefly entertained attempting to return the Colts identity to Baltimore, as well as possibly switching divisions with Indianapolis, he quickly abandoned this effort after learning Isray's asking price, reputed to be at least $25 million.

With league-wide realignment in 2002, the Ravens successfully lobbied to remain in the same division as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and the revived Browns, and as a result now play in the AFC North.

Colts Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas, who had settled with his family in Baltimore after his playing career was over, was angered by the move to Indianapolis and cut all ties with the team.