In North American sports, a team made up of castoffs from all the established teams. It was, once, a valid proposition - there were many large markets that were deserving of the "validation" of having a major-league franchise, plenty of local individuals willing to pony up the cash, plenty of talent around. In this era of sports saturation, expansion exists as a Ponzi Scheme for the NHL, a gigabuck ego-trip for NFL owners, and a way for leagues to extort corporate welfare from cities.