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The United States Football League was a professional American football league that played three seasons between 1983 and 1985, in the process presenting the rival National Football League with its greatest competitor since the 1960s version of the American Football League.
Organization
The USFL was the brainchild of David Dixon, a New Orleans entrepreneur who in the 1960s envisioned football as a possible spring and summer sport. In the early 1980s, Dixon gathered a group of owners from twelve cities and announced the league's launch on May 11, 1982, to begin play in 1983.
Franchise instability
While no teams folded during any season of the USFL, it was a close call in many cases. The league experienced a great deal of franchise instability, relocation, and closure:
- During the 1983-1984 off-season:
- During the 1984-1985 off-season:
- The Breakers moved a second time, this time to Portland, Oregon.
- The owner of the Los Angeles Express franchise went bankrupt, abandoning his franchise and putting the league's television contract with ABC in jeopardy.
- The league champion Philadelphia Stars were evicted from Veterans Stadium, forcing the team to relocate to Baltimore, Maryland.
- The league's 1983 champion Michigan Panthers would merge with the Oakland Invaders, as team owner Alfred Taubman did not wish to compete head-to-head with the NFL's Detroit Lions in 1986.
- The Washington Federals were relocated to Orlando, Florida where they would become the Orlando Renegades, in part due to its owners' unwillingness to compete with the NFL (the team was originally to be relocated to Miami, and coached by University of Miami head coach Howard Schnellenger --- fresh off his school's 1984 national championship --- but those plans went awry when the USFL announced that it would play in the Fall beginning in 1986).
- The Arizona Wranglers (nee Chicago Blitz of 1983) would merge with the Oklahoma Outlaws, forming the Arizona Outlaws.
- The Pittsburgh Maulers, owned by billionaire shopping mall magnate Edward J. DeBartolo folded; and
- The Chicago Blitz (nee Arizona Wranglers of 1983) also folded.
Competition vs. NFL
Competing by not competing
At first the USFL competed with the older, more established National Football League by trying "not" to compete directly with it, primarily by playing its games on a March-June schedule but also having different playing rules, most notably:
- The two-point conversion (since adopted by the NFL, in 1994).
- A method of challenging officials' rulings on the field via instant replay (using a system that is identical to that used by the NFL today).
Initially the league was viewed as innovative, a serious challenger to the establishment NFL thanks to its willingness to sign marquee talent such as Herschel Walker, Doug Flutie, Mike Rozier, Reggie White, Jim Kelly and other young stars of the day.
Spring vs. fall
In 1984 the league began discussing the possibility of competing head-to-head with the NFL by playing its games in the fall beginning in 1986. Despite the protestations of many "old guard" owners within the league, the voices of New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump and others would eventually prevail. On October 18, 1984, the league's owners voted to begin playing a fall season in 1986. It would prove to be the league's death knell, and the USFL would never play a fall game.
USFL vs. NFL
In another effort to keep themselves afloat while at the same time attacking the more established National Football League, the USFL filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the older league, claiming it had established a monopoly with respect to television broadcasting rights, and in some cases to access of stadium venues.
Each NFL franchise was named as a co-defendant, with the exception of the then-Los Angeles Raiders; Raiders owner Al Davis was a major witness for the USFL. Howard Cosell was also a key witness for the USFL.
The case went to trial, and while the USFL won the battle—the court held that the NFL was a "duly adjudicated illegal monopoly"—it lost the war. The jury, unsure of how to proceed awarding damages and thinking the judge was empowered to award a greater amount, awarded the USFL a token judgment of $1.00, tripled under anti-trust law to $3.00.
Despite the post-trial statements of several jurors indicating that they wished to award much greater sums to the USFL (one juror alone stated a $100 million award, tripled to $300 million, was what he thought appropriate), the USFL was never able to get the amount increased during a lengthy appeals process that went well into the early 1990s, during which time the league had "suspended operations".
Aftermath
Though the NFL would be loathe to admit it during the remainder of the 1980s and 1990s, it is widely acknowledged that the USFL had a dramatic impact on the National Football League both on the field and off.
Almost all of the USFL's on-field innovations were eventually adopted by the older league, and a multitude of star players would go on to very successful careers in the NFL.
Teams
In 1986
Prior to the jury award in USFL v. NFL, the league had planned to go forward with a 1986 season comprising eight teams, divided into a "Liberty Division" and "Independence Division":
Championship games
Commissioners
- Chester R. "Chet" Simmons (1983-1984; resigned under pressure from owners)
- Harry L. Usher (1984-1989; league ceased operations)
See also
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