Arizona Cardinals Relocation

Lore & Background

The franchise that became the Arizona Cardinals traces its continuous lineage to 1920, when it joined the NFL as the Racine Cardinals. Although the Morgan Athletic Club was founded in 1898, the modern Cardinals franchise has been continuously operated only since 1920. The Cardinals are the oldest continuously run professional football franchise in the United States, and, along with the Chicago Bears, are the only NFL charter member franchises still in operation.

In 1960, the team moved to St. Louis, where it was commonly referred to as the 'Football Cardinals', the 'Gridbirds', or the 'Big Red' to avoid confusion with Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals. Before the 1988 season, the team moved to Tempe, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, where it played home games for the next 18 seasons at Sun Devil Stadium. In 2006, the team moved to their current home field in suburban Glendale. Their executive offices and training facility remain in Tempe, with plans to relocate them to north Phoenix in the future.

From 1988 to 2012 (except 2005, when they trained in Prescott), the Cardinals conducted their annual summer training camp at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. In 2013, the Cardinals moved their training camp to their home field, then called University of Phoenix Stadium, now State Farm Stadium.

Reader's Guide

The Cardinals have won two NFL championships, both while the team was in Chicago. The first, in 1925, was disputed by supporters of the Pottsville Maroons. Their second, and the first to be won in a championship game, came in 1947. They returned to the title game to defend in 1948, but lost the rematch 7–0 in a snowstorm in Philadelphia.

The team has since suffered many losing seasons and, as of 2025, has the longest active championship drought in North American sports at 78 seasons. The team's all-time win–loss record at the conclusion of the 2025 season was 603–836–41. They have been to the playoffs 11 times and have won seven playoff games, including three in the 2008–09 NFL playoffs. During that season, they won their only NFC Championship Game since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, and reached Super Bowl XLIII, losing 27–23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The team has won five division titles (1974, 1975, 2008, 2009, and 2015) since their 1947–48 NFL championship game appearances. The Cardinals are the only NFL team that has never lost a playoff game at home: their 5–0 record encompasses the 1947 NFL Championship Game, two games during the 2008–09 NFL playoffs, one during the 2009–10 playoffs, and one during the 2015–16 playoffs. In their 37 seasons since moving to Arizona in 1988, the Cardinals have a total of six playoff appearances, three division titles, and one NFC championship.

Did You Know?

• The team's name comes from faded maroon jerseys described as 'Cardinal red'.
• The Cardinals have lost playoff games at home, including the 2021 Wild Card round, but the 2015 NFC Championship Game was a road loss against the Carolina Panthers.