There will never be a time in any NFL season that finds the Los Angeles Rams among the least traveled teams. The Rams play in Los Angeles, California, a bustling city nestled in the southwest corner of the nation. But the Rams face the Seattle Seahawks twice a season, a team that calls Seattle, Washington, home. The distance between those two NFC West Division rivals is 1,135 miles.
That is nearly the distance between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Miami, Florida. And those two teams are in completely different NFL Divisions.
The thing is, the NFL has an East Coast bias. After all, that is where most of the people in the lower 48 states live. If you use the Mississippi River as a rough dividing line, roughly 80 percent of the US population is found east of that line. And that explains why the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams will never be among the least-traveled teams in the NFL.
Just by traveling to the other three NFC West opponents annually, the Rams rack up:
- Arizona Cardinals - 370 miles
- San Francisco 49ers - 381 miles
- Seattle Seahawks - 1,135 miles
And that is baked into the Rams travel budget each season. Compare that to an AFC North Division team like the Pittsburgh Steelers that faces traveling to: Baltimore Ravens (248 miles), Cincinnati Bengals (289 miles), and Cleveland Browns (134 miles), and the reasons for travel miles disparity in the NFL jumps out at you.
That leads to the eye-opening breakdown of projected miles traveled by all 32 NFL teams for the 2025 NFL season by ESPN's NFL Insider, Adam Schefter. The Rams check in with 34,832 travel miles this season. That number is greater than the 24,901 miles that is the circumference of the Earth at the equator.
Thirty-two NFL teams will travel 625,947 miles this season. Here is the breakdown, via @billsperos: pic.twitter.com/WJ2sU5hrVG
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 13, 2025
Just for comparison purposes, the Los Angeles Rams travel more miles than the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and Baltimore Ravens combined. While the Rams have been able to shrug off that natural disadvantage of long-distance travel and the havoc caused by competing in an ever-changing assortment of time zones, it remains a distinct disadvantage.
No East Coast team relishes traveling to the West Coast to play a game, as the distance and time zone difference give them a disadvantage. But there is little to be said for West Coast teams that face the same circumstances traveling in the opposite direction. It's not that it's less problematic, as it is fewer teams.
The introduction of international games may alter that somewhat. After all, the Los Angeles Rams are closer to the Pacific International countries than East Coast teams. So tossing in games in Australia could quickly begin to level the playing field. But, until that happens, get your boarding passes and identification cards handy, Rams fans. You cheer for one of the most traveled teams in the NFL. Thankfully, you cheer for a winner, too.
As always, thanks for reading.
