Arizona Cardinals Relocation

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The relocation began not with a contract, but a handshake agreement between Bidwill and state officials shortly after the 1987 season ended. In St. Louis, the team had advanced to the playoffs only three times (1974, 1975, and 1982) during their 28-year stay, never hosting or winning a playoff game there. They did win the defunct Playoff Bowl in 1964 against the Green Bay Packers, but overall mediocrity and an aging stadium drove the decision to leave. Upon arriving in Arizona, the franchise carried its history as the oldest continuously run professional football team in the United States, established in Chicago in 1898. While they struggled initially with records like 7–9 in 1996 and 4–12 in 1997, the move set the foundation for future success, including a historic playoff run in 1998 that broke a 16-year postseason drought.

In Their Own Story

The first practice under the new ownership structure occurred as the team settled into Tempe. The atmosphere shifted from the humid Midwest to the dry heat of Arizona, though training camps remained at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff from 1988 to 2012, with a brief exception in Prescott in 2005. In 1996, head coach Vince Tobin led the team to a 7–9 record, followed by a regression to 4–12 in 1997. The turning point arrived in 1998 when the Cardinals qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. They defeated the Dallas Cowboys 20–7 in the wild card round, securing their first postseason win since 1947, before falling to the Minnesota Vikings 41–21 in the Divisional Round. This era marked the beginning of a new chapter for a franchise that had previously spent decades as the Chicago Cardinals and St. Louis Cardinals.

Reader's Guide

Fans traveling to early Arizona games found their team at Sun Devil Stadium, where they played from 1988 until moving to State Farm Stadium in Glendale in 2006. The team's executive offices and training facility remained in Tempe, though plans are set to move them to north Phoenix by 2028. To support the franchise's identity in its new home, the name changed from Phoenix Cardinals to Arizona Cardinals on March 17, 1994. The journey through Arizona saw significant milestones: a Super Bowl appearance in XLIII after winning the NFC Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles, and five division titles since moving (1974, 1975, 2008, 2009, 2015). Despite many losing seasons, the Cardinals hold the unique distinction of never losing a playoff game at home, with a perfect 5–0 record spanning from their 1947 championship to the 2015–16 playoffs.

Did You Know?

• The team was locally known as the 'Football Cardinals', 'Gridbirds', or 'Big Red' while in St. Louis to avoid confusion with MLB's St. Louis Cardinals.
• From 1988 to 2012, except for training in Prescott in 2005, the Cardinals held their annual summer camp at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
• The franchise is one of only two NFL charter members still in operation, along with the Chicago Bears.
• In 2008, the team reached Super Bowl XLIII, losing 27–23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers after winning their first NFC Championship since the 1970 merger.
• The Cardinals have never lost a playoff game at home, maintaining a perfect 5–0 record in postseason games played on their own field.