In the old days there was only one team of Avengers. As with most teams, the roster was constantly changing. With so many different members over the years and the need to fight evil on a bigger scale, the West Coast Avengers was formed. That gave two teams. Eventually an attempt was made to establish a team in the middle of the United States and the Great Lakes Avengers was created...but never had an official sanction.

With the passing of the Super Human Registration Act, a civil war came about within the super-powered community. The heroes were split and former teammates found themselves fighting against one another. This lead to Captain America's Secret Avengers. They believed in the human rights and privacy of heroes. They stood against the government and the decision that all heroes should register and reveal their true identities.

Once matters were settled to a degree, we still had two separate teams, the Mighty Avengers and the New Avengers. With different goals, it made sense that all these former Avengers would continue fighting in what they believed in, even if on separate teams following different ideals. With Captain America in charge of all the heroes, is there still a need for the separate teams? The Avengers is the main team. The New Avengers is still sanctioned by the government but supposedly follow their own lead. The Secret Avengers was meant for black ops missions but it didn't feel as if these missions really needed to be a secret. Of course there's also the Young Avengers operating on their own..

With so many different Avengers under Captain America's command, would it be best to just have one team rather than three separate ones?

The dangers the Avengers face can't always be manageable for each team. They have a wide variety of villains ranging from regular street villains with some sort of gimmick to galactic and cosmic powered threats. An existing team of Avengers or New Avengers might not be the best prepared team, regardless of the amount of experience each member brings. The Avengers don't go out on patrol so having a set roster isn't necessary.

What would make more sense is for Captain America (or whoever is in command) to assess the situation as it occurs. Once the threat has been determined, the appropriate members could be gathered and dispatched to deal with the enemies. There could be a loose established roster of heroes with a variety of powers (strength, speed, intelligence, etc) that could be sent on routine missions or ones where the full extent is not known. Once the details are known, the Avenger(s) best suited should be immediately sent out.

Having a large number of Avengers available would require a facility that could house them all. Some Avengers living in the Avengers Mansion while others were at the Avengers Tower (before it was destroyed) doesn't make sense. There's no reason they can't all be in the same place (provided they have an incredible security system that won't allow the entire team to be wiped out). Then if Doc Ock or a former Herald of Galactus shows up, whoever is needed could be sent out.

There is an argument to be made in having separate teams with actual rosters. An established team relies on teamwork. Once they know each other and their powers, different strategies can be established. Working together is the whole purpose of banding together. Most of the Avengers have faced supervillains on their own. Knowing how to work as a team will make capturing the villain easier and faster while also ensuring the safety of innocent bystanders.

Still, having separate teams can be limiting. Why should a team only be allowed a set number of members when there are so many other Avengers that could go with them? The more the merrier. There's also the fact that some Avengers appear to be on multiple teams. Spider-Man and Hawkeye, for example, jumped back and forth between the Avengers and the New Avengers. They should just go with the team that needs them.

There is a wide range of experience among the Avengers. Many have worked together in some capacity, whether on the Avengers or in simple team-ups. Many of them will know how to work with each other. They will know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Being able to rely on each other could make a huge difference in the middle of a battle but because they are all professionals, the Avengers won't allow just anyone to become a member, they should be fully aware of each other's abilities.

As long as Captain America can arrange for random training sessions with different groups of members, the idea of having one super-team would be ideal. The bad guys don't schedule attack times. If one team is fighting villain and another strikes elsewhere, expert coordination would be needed to make sure the best suited Avengers are dispatched. They are all Avengers after all. Why do they feel the need to keep themselves separated in separate teams would the world would benefit from one team dispatching members when and where they are needed?

I do believe that a singular, monolithic Avengers team would be the ideal as well...but that's just it, an ideal.  Frankly I think there is a numbers point at which a team becomes too large and even superheroes will acknowledge this before the fragmentation process begins.  Yes, with Captain America in charge of them all it does kinda centralize control...but that control only lasts so long as the egos of the superheroes within the Avengers structure are in check.  I do however think superheroes would be more inclined to be within such a centralized team structure though provided that teamwork as the key and egos didn't get in the way of things. In other words, ideal yes, realistic, perhaps.  Feasible?  Maybe, maybe not.

I think they should form Ultimate Avengers already, where all the big guns is in it, and they blow stuff up all the time. Yep, sounds good. 

There needs to be a culling of all these myriad members and have it pared down to a singular team, like how the X Men used to be, or the Justice League is.  This would be more ideal to me.

Actually I like how the teams are set up now. Despite both Adjectiveless and New Avengers being wrote by Bendis they have wildly different tones. (Maybe someone else shouldwright adjectiveless avengers, i dont know) but I do thoroughly enjoy both, meanwhile secret avengers does nothing for me. I've given it several chances and just nothing, But some people love it so its there.  
 
Avengers Academy and Young Avengers probably don't count as they are completely different in setting etc.  
 
YA have a wonderful limited series going on. Read it, and Avengers Academy is god damn golden, buy it. 

why are they in New York where the other team is also situated. 

Not only the other team. It feels like half Marvel superheroes are in New York !

ahhh, i've been waiting for someone to write something on this. what'd be a smart move (and logical considering the roster being large enough to fill a small state) would be to cut the teams like x-men did in the nineties with gold and blue. there should definitely be threat-level assessment and who goes to what. spider-man doesn't need to be in two groups, nor hawkeye, or wolverine. they got people who can do their things. secret avengers i feel has no purpose anymore because a black ops team is like what x-force now is, and captain america will not sign off on killing. the avengers can take care of missions like that, they don't need a black ops division unless they're willing to get the job done at any cost. avengers should just be heavy hitters that take on the upper echelon of threats, whereas the "new" avengers can take on gangs that could be problematic if they got out of hand. that's it. no need to have spider-man and daredevil on the same team unless it's apocalypse preparing to throw the sun at the earth in which case both are fairly useless anyhow.

The Marvel Universe needs only one Avengers team,not three

one or two will do, not the whole universe full. 
regular team and discreet/special missions team.  so avengers and secret avengers can stay the rest go bye bye 

Marvel needs less of everything. How many Avengers teams can the world handle? The "one for every state" idea of the Initiative was overkill, because the truth is there is never more than one or two super-villain attacks going on in the ENTIRE COUNTRY at once. 
 Also, i find the whole idea of Secret teams insulting to the others. What, you dont trust the folks of the normal team to be able to keep a secret? And if this "secret" team is not acting to the ideals of the normal teams (i know the "we do things they cant and wont" idea is used now and again), then why call it the same thing? House of Ideas cant come up with another name? Not every crew of heroes has to be the avangers.
  they need to cool it. Its very elitist for each team of Avengers to feel separate from one another. You all have the same tag, but im from the east coast and we dont mix with you. Im top secret, so you normals need to back down. really? 
 
...but in the end, i know that even as it makes NO sense for there to be so many teams, Marvel will keep them all and even add more so they can flood the shelves. Sometimes i really wish no one had bailed them out when they went bankrupt...

Other than the main Avengers and the Secret ones I don't really see the necessity for any other teams in the lineage.

Multiple Avengers teams isn't a problem.  Wolverine and Spider-Man, or the same character in general being on all of the teams becomes a problem.  That's when it starts to feel like things would be better with just one team instead of having the organization segmented.  
 
The only person who should appear in every book on a consistent basis is the leader of the Avengers.  In this case, we'll go with Cap.  Cap headlines Avengers, but pops in on the New Avengers to give them a mission, and then isn't seen until the story arc is over.  Or if he is seen, it's on a video conferencing screen.  Each team would have a core set of members with no duplication.  No Spider-Man being in all Avengers units.  Just one, and the only time they cross over is when the story demands it and they pull in reservists or whatever.
 
Once Wolverine, Spider-Man, and a few others stop appearing everywhere at once, books will stop feeling redundant.

I don't think its necessarily needed, but what Marvel has turned the Avengers into is brilliant. It's just sort of a way to keep great heroes around without giving them their own book. Like Beast was like I quit the x-men so they throw him in secret avengers, Moon Knight is a fan favorite but had proven he can't carry his own comic so they throw him in secret avengers, Iron fist came back and he's always been a cool popular here, but all the series centered around him did't sell good enough so throw him on the avengers, dark region came to an end and people liked Nor-Var plus we need to always have one kreed hero so throw him on the avenges, etc.

The X-Men have multiple teams and books why shouldn't the Avengers!!!

I think they should, there are so many Avengers and everybody has favourites, having multiple teams is not only a great way for Marvel to make money but also for us, the fans, to read about our favourite Avenger/s

Multiple Avengers teams isn't a problem.  Wolverine and Spider-Man, or the same character in general being on all of the teams becomes a problem.  That's when it starts to feel like things would be better with just one team instead of having the organization segmented.    The only person who should appear in every book on a consistent basis is the leader of the Avengers.  In this case, we'll go with Cap.  Cap headlines Avengers, but pops in on the New Avengers to give them a mission, and then isn't seen until the story arc is over.  Or if he is seen, it's on a video conferencing screen.  Each team would have a core set of members with no duplication.  No Spider-Man being in all Avengers units.  Just one, and the only time they cross over is when the story demands it and they pull in reservists or whatever.  Once Wolverine, Spider-Man, and a few others stop appearing everywhere at once, books will stop feeling redundant.

The Marvel Universe doesnt multiple Avengers teams.Sales do.

i say just say leave it to the original avengers and maybe the dark avengers

For my part I think there are not enough teams. I would limit the membership to 10 members per  teams and I would create several new teams of Avengers: 
The Old Avengers
The Former Avengers
The Beach Avengers
The Avengers at the School
The Future Avengers
The Next New Avengers
The Avengers Community
The Fury Avengers 
The Astonishing Avengers
The Incredible Avengers
Avengers Its Us
Military Avengers
Police Avengers
...

I kinda like the way things are now.  From a story standpoint it makes sense.  After Steve came back and Dark Reign was settled, he, Tony, and Thor decided to be Avengers again.  But the problem was that since they'd been gone or off doing their own things, the New Avengers had been taking care of business on their own, had been doing a good job, and were seen as the official Avengers team in the eyes of the public at the time.  So, from Steve's perspective if it ain't broke don't fix it.  You guys keep on keepin' on....  Now we have the three major teams with three different feels:  The Avengers are typically the heavy hitters called by Captain America that deal with the really big problems, the New Avengers is more like a tight-knit group of friends who have been through a lot together (Civil War, Dark Reign, etc.) and choose to be a team because they're more like family, and the Secret Avengers are supposed to deal with problems as a black ops team, keeping these problems out of public knowledge.  I think these teams would still work, even if you took the name "Avengers" out of all the titles except one.  I don't think that's what needs to happen, but I do think there's enough differences between the books that make them work.  Occasionally, there has been big moments when all three teams have united and it's awesome.  Honestly, in the big picture I see them as one big team with divisions.

Very good point, one which I have pondered also. "One team to rule them all" as it were. There's no need for all these sub-groups with strange or constantly altering rosters, every hero who wants to be on the Avengers and is sanctioned to should be part of a massive group. But of course there wouldn't be so many titles then.

I agree that one team could not spotlight the heroes as well as two or three... but, my God, who HASN'T been an Avenger over the years?!?  Where is the Black Knight? Vision? STINGRAY?!!!
I like the idea of several teams, and Cap, Ironman, & Thor should always be in the main team.  I always liked it when Spider-man would visit the Avengers and FF... but he should not be a member of both teams.
Okay, now everybody can throw rocks.

How dare Marvel soil the incomparable New X-Men by ripping it off with the worthless Secret Avengers.

I still think the split into 2 teams is a good idea - with the Mighty Avengers as the major threat team on a global or even galactic scale AND the New Avengers als more street level team dealing with crime, conspiracy and of course classic single supervillain attacks which are not such an big threat and more compare to crime. 
  
Therefore the Mighty Avengers should have a roster of big hitters like Thor, Vision, Scarlet Witch or even Dr. Strange and I see Iron Man still as their leader. They would save the day when it comes to threats that threaten the whole planet or mankind... intergalactic invasions or wars, world domination or world destroyer madness, other dimensions trying to take over our reality, whatever ... 

The New Avengers would more focus on helping people in their daily life. They are on the streets when bank robbery occurs, a villain attacks (not on a global level, but just in NYC or wherever) or they could fight organized crime like Hydra, Hand or so. The roster would have heroes like Luke Cage (which in my opinion should also be the leader), Hawkeye, Iron-Fist, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and other street level heroes like Cloak & Dagger (I would love them in - since they were part of Caps Secret Avengers). 
 
I see no need for other Avengers teams like Secret Avengers (the new Secret Avengers as covert ops team - why calling it Avengers? Why not Defenders? Why can't the Defenders get more covert ops and more a team that isn't so artifical and accidentally assembled together?). 
 
Besides only 2 books I would see reasonable: Young Avengers and maybe Dark Avengers - but both books are not really Avengers team books, just books in the Avengers world like Catwoman is a book in the Batman world. Moreover Dark Avengers has to be a villain book in my opinion - though I don't really see a real need for it as ongoing. In fact, when I think of it, I would prefer a "Masters of Evil" book instead ... which "Dark Avengers" is a variant of. 
 
Summary: I see place for 2 real Avengers teams (Mighty and New)! And these books should rock! 

I hate the multiple Avengers team they have now, what purpose does the New Avengers serve? 
If the earth is invaded by a armada of Kree warships, these guys would back up to Tony,Cap and Clint's squad 
Avengers do not back up anyone...they are the goddamn Avengers! 
 
If you feel the need to make everyone in the MU a Avenger, so be it...leave the mansion behind and organize like mentioned above 
and make the team a global strikeforce for justice 
Have Vision play he role of J'onn J'onzzMr Terrific on JLU 
 and dispatch members as needed 
 
But for my money...east and west coast Avengers would need to return 
what point is there  to have BOTH teams in the same city??

Well, they certainly could do different titles with one team as long as each title focused around a "core" group of characters while they all shared supporting characters. But why? How many X-Men teams are there? 

I actually liked the idea of the Great Lakes Avengers, the West Coast Avengers and the Initiative, so the Avengers is the best team, due to the size of their membership, to have multiple groups.

I think it's great having multiple teams like what Teerack said earlier, but I ALSO think it would be cool, even for a limited run or whatever, if they briefly did something similar to Justice League Unlimited where they have one giant team, one giant base of operations, and the heroes are in and out on shifts and different teams get assigned to separate places for different missions etc. Because then you would have the capability of mixing up teams, dialouge between different characters, how the react to working with others, etc, etc. all the time in the story arc 
 
Just my opinion, I think that would be wicked cool

As long as you don't touch Academy!

i agree to disagree

one Avengers team would make more sense, but i cant front - i regularly read only New Avengers, since i dont care for most of members in other teams

Short answer...no, not a damn bit. The Marvel U has plenty of heroes/teams that can handle a myriad of scenarios. 

I think they must have Mighty Avengers (to handle the global threats), New Avengers (to concentrate on crimefighting and helping people), Secret Avengers (to handle the things that should remain a secret) and Avengers Academy (to train the new generation of superheroes).

 Seven teams, one team, whatever.  As long as Wolverine and Deadpool are not on all of them. or in the FF or the defenders or the .....

one team is good enough

I don't mind there being multiple Avengers teams, but the  division of the Avengers teams needs to be overhauled in my opinion.  

First and foremost, if you're going to bother making multiple Avengers teams, then why put so many people on multiple iterations?  Wolverine is on multiple Avengers teams, Spidey is too, as is Steve a few others.  What's the point in splitting the team if the members are going to be the same on each?  

Also, the "New Avengers" and "Secret Avengers" don't really make the purpose of those teams particularly clear.  Why not divide the Avengers teams by region?  There could be an Avengers International team, or a new iteration of the West Coast Avengers.  

And again, don't force "popular" characters to be on multiple Avengers teams!  Use these teams to attempt to showcase other/more obscure characters.  That's my two cents.

Did Tony just told Steve Rogers how to run his stuff? 

But yeah, I agree, they should have a more compact unit.

Maybe leave Spiderman, Wolverine and the Thing to their own stuff... what do I know.

No....but the Marvel COMPANY needs money so... :P
But seriously, if the comics are good (and i think they are) Im all for publishing them :)

While we're at it, cut the X teams down to two or three.

More teams, more titles, more money.

As long as Quesada is in charge, I dont see the Marvel only having one team.

OFF MY MIND....NO!

@leokearon said:

why are they in New York where the other team is also situated. 

Not only the other team. It feels like half Marvel superheroes are in New York !

 
 

if you do a single team, then you have to start thinking 
"maybe this isnt such a great idea. because EVERYONE that's a good guy in marvel is an avenger with the exclusion of hulk, punisher, and ghost rider." 
 
they need to dwindle down to one team of avengers, have some turn in their card, and slim line everything. it really boils down to just like the xmen, if you're a mutant and you're a good guy, you're an xman. it was great when they removed a crap ton of them years ago.

In my mind (and the same argument can be made for the Justice League and any derivative teams like the JLA, or JLI, etc.) the only good answer is one monolithic team that has core members (your leaders/strategists/powerhouses, the UN Security Council of the team, Superman, Wonder Woman/ Cap, Thor, Iron Man) and then the regular members. Then when a catastrophe goes down, you get as many core members as you need/are available and build the team from regular members whose powers are best equipped for the situation. If you have multiple regular members with the same powers, you have your starters and backups, like a football team. In comic books when you have teleporters and boom tubes, and that stuff, there's no need to have separate teams based on geography; it should be based on crime statistics/population. Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas only need 1 hero, New York City might need a dozen. 

i say just say leave it to the original avengers and maybe the dark avengers