Optimal realignments of the teams in the National Football League

In the fall of 1995, the National Football League expanded for the first time since 1977, adding Carolina to the National Football Conference West division and Jacksonville to the American Football Conference Central division. However, this expansion, coupled with the departure of the Rams and Raiders from Los Angeles, exacerbated an already inefficient alignment of the teams. This paper presents optimal realignments of the league's thirty teams based on the goal of minimizing total intradivisional travel. These realignments are both fairer and considerably less expensive for the teams than the 1995 alignment.