⚾ MLB: 1901-2021
121 10
One of the eight original American League teams beginning with the 1901 season.
Left Philadelphia to relocate in Kansas City to begin the 1955 season.
Left Kansas City to relocate to Oakland to begin the 1968 season.
⚾ MLB: 1883-2021
139 11
Entered the National League in 1883.
Left New York and relocated to San Francisco to begin the 1958 season.
🏈 NFL: 1946-2021
76 5
The 49ers were founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and joined the NFL in 1949 when the leagues merged. The 49ers were the first major league professional ...
🏀 NBA: 1947-2021
75 6
Founded in 1946 in Philadelphia, the Warriors moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1962 and took the city's name, before changing its geographic moniker to Golden State in 1971. The club plays its h...
🏀 NBA: 1923-2021
99 2
The franchise began with the Rochester Seagrams (a semi-professional team) from Rochester, New York, that formed in 1923 and hosted a number of teams there over the next 20 years. They joined the Nati...
NHL: 1992-2021
30
The Sharks were founded in 1991 and were the first NHL franchise based in the San Francisco Bay Area since the California Golden Seals relocated to Cleveland in 1976. The Sharks have advanced to the S...
Defunct Teams
Teams that have folded or moved away from the San Francisco area.F i l t e r & S o r t Filter & Sort
🏈 NFL: 1960-2019
60 3
The Raiders were founded on January 30, 1960, and originally based in Oakland, California, the Raiders played their first regular season game on September 11, 1960, as a charter member of the American...
NHL: 1968-1976
9
Franchise merged with the Minnesota North Stars on June 14, 1978.
The merged team retained the North Stars name, colors, and history, and remained in Minnesota.
🏀 ABA: 1968-1969
2 1
The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, an ABA charter franchise based in Oakland, California. They moved to Washington, D.C. as the Washington Caps in 1969 but moved to Norfolk the following...
🏀 ABL3: 1962-1963
2
The San Francisco Saints were a traveling amateur basketball team composed of Chinese Americans that was formed in the 1950s and entered in the Amateur Athletic Union. The team was founded by Father D...
The early history of sports contains hundreds of teams that appeared for only 1 or 2 seasons before folding. Most of these teams have no historical photographs or articles, so are omitted from this list to reduce clutter. To view a comprehensive list of all defunct teams, browse to the early leagues section for baseball, football, basketball, or hockey.