How Imperialism Map Works

The rules are simple, but the results can be dramatic.

The Basic Rules

TL;DR: Each team starts with their home territory. Winners take all the loser's land. Last team standing owns the country.

  1. Initial Territory Distribution

    At the start of the season (Week 0), every team owns the territory closest to their home stadium or arena. This creates a Voronoi diagram where every point on the map belongs to the nearest team. Think of it as each team controlling their "natural" geographic territory.

  2. Conquest Through Victory

    When two teams play each other, the winner conquers ALL of the loser's territory. It doesn't matter if it's a blowout or a last-second field goal—winner takes all. There's no splitting territory or partial conquest.

  3. Accumulation of Territory

    As the season progresses, winning teams accumulate more and more territory. A team that wins against an opponent with lots of territory gets a massive expansion. Losing teams lose all of their territories.

Strategic Implications

The Imperialism Map creates fascinating "what-if" scenarios:

  • Strength of Schedule Matters: Beating a team that's already accumulated lots of territory is more valuable than beating a team that's already lost theirs.
  • Timing is Everything: An early-season loss can mean missing out on huge territorial gains later.
  • Upsets Have Consequences: When a small-market team upsets a territorial empire, they suddenly become a major power on the map.
  • Transitive Property: If Team A beats Team B, and Team B beat Team C, then Team A owns what used to be Team C's territory—even if they never play each other.

Edge Cases & Special Situations

Ties

In the rare case of a tie (NFL overtime rules), no territory changes hands. Both teams keep what they had before the game.

Neutral Site Games

Bowl games, playoffs, and neutral site games work the same way—winner takes all the loser's territory, regardless of where the game is played.

How to Read the Map

Colors

Each territory is colored with the controlling team's primary color. We use official team colors extracted from their branding guidelines.

Boundaries

The Voronoi diagram creates natural-looking boundaries based on geographic proximity to stadiums. These don't follow state or county lines—they're purely based on distance.

Time Slider

Use the slider at the top to travel through the season. For football, each notch is a week. For basketball, each notch is a day.

Territory Table

Below the map, see exactly how many territories each remaining team controls, sorted by territorial dominance.