when were the detroit lions founded

The Detroit Lions trace their origins to 1928, when the franchise was created as the Portsmouth Spartans in Portsmouth, Ohio, before later moving to Detroit and becoming the Lions in 1934.

Quick Scoop

• The team that is now known as the Detroit Lions was originally founded as the Portsmouth Spartans in 1928.

• The Spartans joined the NFL on July 12, 1930, which is why some histories cite 1930 as the franchise’s founding year in a league context.

• The franchise was sold and relocated to Detroit in 1934, when it was renamed the Detroit Lions to align with the city’s baseball team, the Tigers.

In short: the football franchise began in 1928 in Ohio, entered the NFL in 1930, and has been the Detroit Lions since the 1934 move to Detroit.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.