USFL Restart up in Very early Exploratory Phase

[superscoutken]

Me and some collegues have for years kicked around the idea of bringing back the old USFL and implementing the original plan: $20-$50K salary cap,play from May until Sept .There needs to be a viable outdoor football option for the fans & players in the spring time.Indoor football does not allow for proper evaluation for NFL/CFL prospects. At one time 40% of NFL rosters were filled with former USFL players. Let's say 15% were players that would have been in the NFL anyway that leaves 25%. There is not and never will be 25% of indoor players on NFL rosters.If we avg even 10 k(USFL avg 24k) fans/gm @ $20/ticket=$200k per home game X 8 home games =1.6mil. (Salary cap would be in the $2million per team range in the first year and move to $5 million per team in the 2nd yr & $8million per team in 3rd year) .not to mention corporate sponsors, concessions,merchandise & parking +TV Revenue( which we feel confident one of the cable networks would do to sell advertising) We just wanted to put out some feelers to see who would be interested in helping to put some of the plan in place.Game would be played on a 100 yd field but with 20 yd endzones & similar field width to the CFL game to allow for a more entertaining game and build our own identity to separate ourselves from the negativity that has been created by past leagues(WLAF & XFL) since the USFL lost it's judgement award.The league could in it's second year allow TWO NAME College players to be signed per team but will not fully compete with NFL for players.


And after the league folded, former USFL players made up nearly 40 percent of NFL rosters from 1986 to 1989. From the midst of what was supposed to be a rag-tag group of NFL wannabes, the USFL produced two Super Bowl MVPs, numerous Pro Bowlers and the most prolific passer in Canadian Football League history, Flutie.


TV RATINGS COMPARISON

1983 USFL 6.0 Rating
1984 USFL 5.5 Rating

But golf's average TV ratings for the year(2001) still are climbing, up to 3.6, better than baseball and basketball, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The USFL made ABC Money, they just got a lousy deal from the networks.




-- Greg Garber

Three days after the judgment, the USFL suspended operations.

The league had recorded losses approaching $200 million and when an appeal failed and a television contract for 1986 failed to materialize, the game was over.

Donald Dixon, the founder, had seen it coming. In May 1982, he had introduced the league and outlined its modest goals. Teams would have only two high-priced players, he said, and limit the rest of the payroll to $1.7 million. A typical team budget would be around $4.5 million and the television contract with ABC and ESPN would provide nearly half of that.

A nice little theory, eh?

In late 1982, only months after he had launched the enterprise, Dixon found himself at a league meeting in Washington. He knew the key to survival was keeping salaries in line and had figured out a way, through negotiations with the NFL player's union, to legally institute a salary cap.

"I brought that up," Dixon said. "One of our owners, whose name I shall never mention -- I'll never know if he was kidding -- says 'A union? What, are you some kind of communist?'

"Otherwise, I knew they would have ultimately spent themselves into oblivion -- which they did. I decided I'd better get out. I took an offer that was pending for the rights I had to a team, the team that became the Houston Gamblers."

Dixon believes if teams had followed the original modest philosophy and built their franchises slowly, the league would have succeeded.

"They let their costs get out of control," Dixon said. "Even multi-millionaires don't like to lose money."

Few disagree.

"They started out right," said Giants head coach Jim Fassel, "But egos got in the way."

Said Irv Eatman, the Stars offensive lineman, "If the entire league had been run like our franchise, we'd still be in existence. We'd be part of the NFL today."

The plan, according to the Stars' Peterson, was to "crawl before we walk, walk before we run. We had some guys, like Donald Trump, that were too anxious, wanted to go to fast."

"The league was so close to going over the top," said Charlie Steiner. "That's why people remember it so fondly and why there's a bitter sadness about the way it ended. It shouldn't have ended."

[patmc16]

How does each team get 100% of their own gate AND 50% of the road gate? :?

Is this going to be the Amway Football League? :lol:

[superscoutken]

Me and some collegues have for years kicked around the idea of bringing back the old USFL and implementing the original plan: $20-$50K salary cap, non compete with NFL(hope to eventually have a 32 team minor league feeder system with NFL) like a AAA or AA MLB team, cable contract with USA or Comcast,play in spring up until NFL training camp.There needs to be a viable outdoor football option for the fans.If we avg even 10 k(USFL avg 24k) fans/gm @ $20/ticket=$200k per home game X 8 home games = 1.6m + 1/2 road gate for 7 playoff games(15,000fans/gm) 300K/gm=2.1mil + all star game (20,000x20) divided 400,000k amongst 18 teams.Salary avg 35k x 40 roster=1.4 mil, not to mention concessions & parking +TV( which we feel confident one of the cable networks would do to sell advertising). Working on insurance, charter bus figures now. We just wanted to put out some feelers to see who would be interested in helping to put some of the plan in place.
The gate receipt is to be 1/2 for all games, the addtl was the amt for the 7 playoff gms & all star game. The post was made and then I realized the error and that you cannot edit posts on this forum . Anyway the ideas we have down on paper here are not set in stone as we are in the early business plan and are open to any serious feedback.

[Pounder]

I sense the NFL will institute their own minor league when they're good and ready (they hope the date is "never"), and squash anything else that comes along.

[superscoutken]

I sense the NFL will institute their own minor league when they're good and ready (they hope the date is "never"), and squash anything else that comes along....I agree with you on that 100%...........for years now they have wanted the public to perceive that no other league would work...........that there is no caliber of player better than the players in their league.............you have to remember I am a pro football scout.............I know how close the athletic ability is between players on active rosters and those getting cut.........it is very slim and in most cases it is not about athletic ability at all.............most times it is about numbers........alot of times it is about mental discipline......alot of times is about getting more reps and playing on a bigger stage in more meaningful games than they have been used to at small schools...........at any rate when this gets going it will have huge financial backing or will not be implemented at all .............salaries will be managed by the league for 4 yrs through a fan ownership system (2000 shares X $4,000) and the majority owners will be responsible for the day to day operations of the club and will be marketed for at least two years heavily before it gets going so we will do this regardless of if the NFL wants to be a part of it or not.............eventually we believe they will but if not we wil move forward on our own as a profitable, stand on its own league.............it's all about perception..............you perceive and what you read about is what you believe to be true.............you believe no other league can make it because you believe there is nothing other than the NFL..............there are three types of players...........there are the pro bowl players that a team cannot do without for very long and expect to win......there are your core group of players that make up the majority of your team ..............and then there are your special teams, 4th WR's, 3rd QB's, nickel backs...........and you can take any top CFL, AFL, AF2, NIFL players and put them on an NFL roster in place of those players and you wouldnt even know the difference.............in most cases you wouldnt know the difference if they were the direct backups ...........the league will build it's own stars.............the key is in having solid OLineman so the game flows smooothly..........WR's, DB's are plentiful so we will build our own stars there and develop quality DE's , CB's & QB's along the way.............the game will be on a Canadian size 110 yd field with NFL rules except we are discussing allowing forward WR motion like in the CFL to build better DB's and make the game more wide open...........probably will stick with 4 downs but 3 are a possibility........might be more of a proving grounds for CFL players.......but at the very least it will provide a place where players can go and play 5-10 yrs if they want for $25,000 a year.........so who cares about the NFL...............at one point 40% of NFL rosters were filled with former USFL players........so that should tell you something and only 10-15% of those players were big name players who would have been in the NFL anyway...........alot of good 5th-7th rnd picks & FA's get cut and never really hook on anywhere again not because of lack of talent....I'm mean give me a break......these players arent from different worlds..........it's because of a lack of oppty...........it's tougher to make it in the CFL than the NFL because of american roster limits & the AFL players are not necessarily the better "football players" they are better conditioned athletes who can play dual positions.............word is though that they want a quality outdoor league here in the states that is non compete with them so they can abandon NFL Europe...........so we'll see



-- Greg Garber

Three days after the judgment, the USFL suspended operations.

The league had recorded losses approaching $200 million and when an appeal failed and a television contract for 1986 failed to materialize, the game was over.

Donald Dixon, the founder, had seen it coming. In May 1982, he had introduced the league and outlined its modest goals. Teams would have only two high-priced players, he said, and limit the rest of the payroll to $1.7 million. A typical team budget would be around $4.5 million and the television contract with ABC and ESPN would provide nearly half of that.

A nice little theory, eh?

In late 1982, only months after he had launched the enterprise, Dixon found himself at a league meeting in Washington. He knew the key to survival was keeping salaries in line and had figured out a way, through negotiations with the NFL player's union, to legally institute a salary cap.

"I brought that up," Dixon said. "One of our owners, whose name I shall never mention -- I'll never know if he was kidding -- says 'A union? What, are you some kind of communist?'

"Otherwise, I knew they would have ultimately spent themselves into oblivion -- which they did. I decided I'd better get out. I took an offer that was pending for the rights I had to a team, the team that became the Houston Gamblers."

Dixon believes if teams had followed the original modest philosophy and built their franchises slowly, the league would have succeeded.

"They let their costs get out of control," Dixon said. "Even multi-millionaires don't like to lose money."

Few disagree.

"They started out right," said Giants head coach Jim Fassel, "But egos got in the way."

Said Irv Eatman, the Stars offensive lineman, "If the entire league had been run like our franchise, we'd still be in existence. We'd be part of the NFL today."

The plan, according to the Stars' Peterson, was to "crawl before we walk, walk before we run. We had some guys, like Donald Trump, that were too anxious, wanted to go to fast."

"The league was so close to going over the top," said Charlie Steiner. "That's why people remember it so fondly and why there's a bitter sadness about the way it ended. It shouldn't have ended."

[JB]

(Superscoutken I couldn't agree with you more. I have been posting about a winter/spring football league for a few years now here and on other boards and it is always met with a lot of negativity, these guys are told it can't happen so they believe it. In case you have not read some of my earlier post, here are a few)


Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2004 10:36 pm Post subject: Fan Owned Winter Football League

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why Wouldn't A Fan Owned Winter Football League Succeed?

Football is the number one sports in the U.S. Forget that BS about Baseball being America's favorite past time, it's Football, hands down.

Once the NFL and college football seasons end, dozens and dozens of stadiums across the country remain basically empty and un-used.

Most football fans feel a let down once the regular season ends, in part because the off-season is way too long. What an excellent, wide open business opportunity.

People are always pouring money into the stock market on risky companies and losing billions of dollars. Why wouldn't people be interested in investing in a fan owned league?

How many fringe players are cut every year by the NFL? Think of the level of quality players that don't make the final two cuts. How many players just need another season or two to improve their skills but never get that chance. How many of these guys would quit their current jobs just to have a chance to play football, improve their game, and get a second chance at the big money in the NFL? How many of these guys would be willing to play for a thousand dollars a week. To keep players healthy and in-shape, the new league could pay these guys all year long. As soon as the season ended, players would be required to train, workout, lift weights 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Ensuring the quality of play once the season began and also providing players the opportunity to be called up to the NFL should the need arise..........


....... I'm looking for an outdoor league that starts play the week after the Super Bowl. The NFL off-season is way too long at 7 months. What a golden business opportunity for a new league......


Best of luck to you superscoutken.

[superscoutken]

(Superscoutken I couldn't agree with you more. I have been posting about a winter/spring football league for a few years now here and on other boards and it is always met with a lot of negativity, these guys are told it can't happen so they believe it. In case you have not read some of my earlier post, here are a few)


Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2004 10:36 pm Post subject: Fan Owned Winter Football League

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why Wouldn't A Fan Owned Winter Football League Succeed?

Football is the number one sports in the U.S. Forget that BS about Baseball being America's favorite past time, it's Football, hands down.

Once the NFL and college football seasons end, dozens and dozens of stadiums across the country remain basically empty and un-used.

Most football fans feel a let down once the regular season ends, in part because the off-season is way too long. What an excellent, wide open business opportunity.

People are always pouring money into the stock market on risky companies and losing billions of dollars. Why wouldn't people be interested in investing in a fan owned league?

How many fringe players are cut every year by the NFL? Think of the level of quality players that don't make the final two cuts. How many players just need another season or two to improve their skills but never get that chance. How many of these guys would quit their current jobs just to have a chance to play football, improve their game, and get a second chance at the big money in the NFL? How many of these guys would be willing to play for a thousand dollars a week. To keep players healthy and in-shape, the new league could pay these guys all year long. As soon as the season ended, players would be required to train, workout, lift weights 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Ensuring the quality of play once the season began and also providing players the opportunity to be called up to the NFL should the need arise..........


....... I'm looking for an outdoor league that starts play the week after the Super Bowl. The NFL off-season is way too long at 7 months. What a golden business opportunity for a new league......


Best of luck to you superscoutken. Thanks JB. We'd be interested in hearing any ideas you have that you think would make a new outdoor league a success. The reason we are discussing not having the league start right after the NFL season is because we want to take advantage of signing players who are really hungry after being bypassed in the draft & FA signings. We will be in cities within close proximity to NFL training camps and conclude in September so players are fresh in game shape and be ready for possible NFL or CFL callups.We also would like to have a built in developmental league built right in to our league that is independently owned & operated like in baseball.

[Herk]

any idea on what year the league would start up if it did (2007, 2008?) personally i think it's a decent idea but i think the league should start up small playing in only 8-10 cities and then expanding from there. I saw on your scouting website it had proposed locations for teams. It says the milwaukee franchise would play at camp randall. Camp Randall is in Madison (about an hour away) so are you planning on having a team called milwaukee play in madison?

[superscoutken]

any idea on what year the league would start up if it did (2007, 2008?) personally i think it's a decent idea but i think the league should start up small playing in only 8-10 cities and then expanding from there. I saw on your scouting website it had proposed locations for teams. It says the milwaukee franchise would play at camp randall. Camp Randall is in Madison (about an hour away) so are you planning on having a team called milwaukee play in madison? It could be 3-5 yrs (leaning towards the 5 yr plan). Right now we have some investor interest from some people involved in the previous USFL but the business plan is not complete.Once it is then the proposal will be made and if accepted we hope they run with it to other investors and we will do the same.The proposal on my site is Proposal A.There is another proposal of 10 teams and that might be the more likely scenario to get started. If I find 18-20 very qualified ownership groups in those 18-20 cities then we will go through with our top plan initially. The cost for Div I stadium is about $200-$300 K per game so we might back off of the that and go with more CFL sized stadiums that seat 30,000 plus.Div IAA-Div II type stadiums.If there isnt a suitable 30,000 seat stadium in our target area then we could look at some bigger stadiums. A team is planned for Milwaukee because of the proximity to two NFL camps ( Packers & Chiefs) and we feel their are great fans there and we want to use college stadiums to draw on the student population with $5 & $10 seats. Right now we are still examing failed leagues & getting our figures together. Feel free to get involved and do some research and forward it over if you'd like. Those are the cities we are targeting.

[minnfan]

Public perception is the major stumbling block. I know you address it, more than once, but you don't make detailed suggestions on how to overcome it. Minor league football has never been accepted in this country for one thing, and what you're suggesting is minor league.......

Fan Ownership? Where has that worked in the past? Either you give the fans so little control that they eventually figure it out and take their investments somewhere else or you give them so much control they get in the way of the business officers who should be running the team.

A feeder to the NFL? What, exactly, is the NCAA then? The NFL/NCAA partnership is a two way agreement and neither is going to help you introduce a third party.

On the other hand, a true USFL, quality players, network television, 35,000 plus crowds, is very unlikely to succede. Partly because the networks won't try it, and anyway the networks are far weaker today than in the 1980's, less able to command large viewing audiences.

What kind of media reporting are you anticipating? One of the most difficult problems previous leagues have had to contend with is the indifference of major media twords new football leagues. They are as married to the NFL as the NCAA is. Without generally favorable, or at least neutral, press coverage on a regular basis you've got another major hurdle to jump.

As for public perception.............the sour taste of the XFL, the collapse of the USFL and WLAF, is going to be the biggest hurdle to jump. I don't see how you can do it.

I like spring football, I want to see it return. But I don't think it's going to happen for at least a decade, more likely two, and when it does it'll have to be a true USFL, not a junior league version such as you are suggesting.

[superscoutken]

Public perception is the major stumbling block. I know you address it, more than once, but you don't make detailed suggestions on how to overcome it. Minor league football has never been accepted in this country for one thing, and what you're suggesting is minor league.......

Fan Ownership? Where has that worked in the past? Either you give the fans so little control that they eventually figure it out and take their investments somewhere else or you give them so much control they get in the way of the business officers who should be running the team.

A feeder to the NFL? What, exactly, is the NCAA then? The NFL/NCAA partnership is a two way agreement and neither is going to help you introduce a third party.

On the other hand, a true USFL, quality players, network television, 35,000 plus crowds, is very unlikely to succede. Partly because the networks won't try it, and anyway the networks are far weaker today than in the 1980's, less able to command large viewing audiences.

What kind of media reporting are you anticipating? One of the most difficult problems previous leagues have had to contend with is the indifference of major media twords new football leagues. They are as married to the NFL as the NCAA is. Without generally favorable, or at least neutral, press coverage on a regular basis you've got another major hurdle to jump.

As for public perception.............the sour taste of the XFL, the collapse of the USFL and WLAF, is going to be the biggest hurdle to jump. I don't see how you can do it.

I like spring football, I want to see it return. But I don't think it's going to happen for at least a decade, more likely two, and when it does it'll have to be a true USFL, not a junior league version such as you are suggesting.We will have our own league reporters & cable networks with us and then it just comes down to how ingenious we are at marketing.....If we are better psychologist/salesman then they are......We will find the selling points & exploit those areas.Instead of thinking of it as minor league the best way to view it is CFL in the America. Fan ownership has never been tried....so long as the investor make his $4,000 back who will complain .............The investment does not have to be made back solely from football...........we have hedge fund strategies & other investment vehicles to pour money into the league......A main priority will be the fans getting their money back first with hopefully a return on their investment & the players being paid............the NCAA is the feeder system to the NFL........this is another feeder system for NCAA players who have graduated who are only a year or two away from reaching their potential but couldnt get those reps in the NFL because the parity is so close their teams cannot afford to lose a game because a player wasnt ready.........again it is not about athletic ability why players dont make it..........I'm not proposing a league that would compete with the NFL)..........anyway we believe there is enough local talent for fans to be interested and a major marketing tool we will use is to bring back the college/hometown territorial draft..........Every year there are about 900 players in NFL camps who are cut and another 200 plus in CFL camps and certainly not all of these hook on somewhere and alot dont want to play AFL ball at all and so they move on to regular jobs........we will offer another outdoor option.

[minnfan]

[/quote].......the XFL was most likely in a behind the scenes agreement with the NFL & NBC to shut down the league after a year so that the public would perceive a league could not work even if it had a TV network behind it.[/quote]


It's hard to believe anybody could make a statement like this and pretend to be serious at the same time. You are suggesting that Vince and the WWF was in bed with the NFL, which is about as mindless as any other conspiracy theory put forward by the tinfoil-hat-wearing-goofballs.

This one sentance tells me everything I need to know about you and your venture .........

[superscoutken]

.......the XFL was most likely in a behind the scenes agreement with the NFL & NBC to shut down the league after a year so that the public would perceive a league could not work even if it had a TV network behind it.[/quote]


It's hard to believe anybody could make a statement like this and pretend to be serious at the same time. You are suggesting that Vince and the WWF was in bed with the NFL, which is about as mindless as any other conspiracy theory put forward by the tinfoil-hat-wearing-goofballs.

This one sentance tells me everything I need to know about you and your venture .........[/quote]I was just waiting for some mindless, unintellect moron to come up with a response like that. It just shows your lack of intelligence by making a statement such as you have to that statement. Why did you even respond about a world you know nothing about. This goes on all the time. The NFL was only found guilty of being a monopoly and while the USFL could not prove the networks were conspiring against them only an idiot would think otherwise when you are talking about a multi billion dollar business.What happens when a league proves like the American Football League did that fans would eventually support another outdoor league and that eventually it could turn a profit in time? The leagues eventually compete against each other for players salaries . That is what happened when the USFL came into existence. Players minmum salaries were in the $40,000 /yr range then. Do you Know what the average NFL salaries were in 1985? Once an original ownership group stays with a project long enough and it is successful the NFL's fear would then be that the League would be sold to a group of billionaires whose goal then would be to take on the NFL head to head.The owners profits would then be cut into or the fans would feel the pinch at the gate again.The XFL with it's own network behind them could have done this if they stayed the course 5 yrs until they could start to turn a profit, but it was a joke from the beginning.How could a league with it's own TV Network choose to fold after a year if they were SERIOUS about being a viable option? The answer is they wouldnt. The werent serious? Why werent they serious? It couldnt have been about losses, they knew going into this venture what the losses would be. They exceeded their anticipated attendence figures. They knew they would have to take losses for several years to make this thing a success. They put the NFL into a position to gain leverage for a TV deal and this is how they did it. It's as simple as that. Just do some research before you respond next time with a silly response like that.

[minnfan]

Dear superscout......

I'll try. Why don't you as well.

Accusing the XFL of being a gigantic hoax designed to give the NFL television leverage they don't need is beyond fantasy, it's conspiracy theorist material not even worthy of posting.

But......any venture involving Dick Suess is a failure destined to crash and burn. He's started or horned in on how many football leagues over the last two plus decades and not a single one of them still exist. Most never got off the ground and his only half successful attempt, the PIFL, crashed in less than a season.

But that's enough of this silly, infantile nonsense. I'll read no more of your posts. Oh yes, I'd take it as a kindness if you'd stop sending me private emails......I don't want them. Keep it on this board or keep it under your hat.

[superscoutken]

Dear superscout......

I'll try. Why don't you as well.





But that's enough of this silly, infantile nonsense. I'll read no more of your posts. Oh yes, I'd take it as a kindness if you'd stop sending me private emails......I don't want them. Keep it on this board or keep it under your hat.Dick Suess HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS VENTURE WHATSOEVER SO I WANT EVERYBODY TO BE 100% CLEAR ON THIS ISSUE...........You obviously do not comprehend too well ...............the XFL was nothing more than what it was.........it could have been more and that is what we are specualting on here..........not that the XFL was even wanting to compete against the NFL..........it would had have to have been sold to an ownership group of multi billionaires WANTING to take on the NFL to do that..........that is my point...........they never had any intention of making this work ...........just wanting the NFL to think about how much it did not want to stir up another group of USFL type owners from taking control of the league and this time losing in court..........Are you even vaguely familar with the USFL or AFL court cases?..............Are you being paid by the NFL to make posts like these?...........LOL................What is your purpose anyway?......This kind of thing goes on all the time...........but who cares if I'm right or not that's not the point...........I'm not looking to compete against the NFL............,but that is most likely the reason behind the XFL folding so abruptly even though they had their own network behind them.........Vince McMahon was just a joke...........probably not even a part of this league surving or not...........this was all NBC.

Judge Roszel Thompson of the U.S. District Court in Baltimore ruled against the AFL in its antitrust suit against the NFL, May 21. The AFL had charged the NFL with monopoly and conspiracy in areas of expansion, television, and player signings. The case lasted two and a half years, the trial two months.

[superscoutken]

Officially, the USFL was asking the courts to declare illegal the NFL's long-standing relationships with the three major television networks, NBC, CBS, and ABC. The NFL, so claims the USFL, has an "influence" over the networks that precludes the new loop from competing as a "major league" in professional football.

As a remedy to the problem, the USFL had asked the Federal Courts to divide the NFL into two separate and competing 14-member leagues, with each league limited to a contract with one major network. Or, the USFL asked, limit the NFL to maintaining contracts with no more than two major networks in any case. The USFL was also seeking to prohibit the NFL from making future service contract offers to players under contract to the USFL and ban exclusive use pacts for the use of stadiums while prohibiting the NFL from signing football officials to contracts that keep them from working in the USFL as well.

The USFL's legal action was born in the league's decision to challenge the NFL head-on via a fall schedule beginning in 1986, the USFL said it would move it's games from the spring to the fall, banging heads with the more established and respected NFL.

Reasoning was based on finances. With losses over the $100 Million Dollar mark for the first two seasons as a spring time venture, USFL owners decided to wage War with their big brothers. The legal challenge alleged negotiating a lucrative television contract had been extremely difficult. The NFL, suit charges, in order to protect it's own five year, $2.1 billion dollar contract with the three networks, had exerted sufficient influence upon the networks to minimize their interests in the USFL.

Given the NFL's tendency to have come out losers in the courts back then, the USFL was banking on the NFL coming to terms with them rather than battling the antitrust suit in the courts or waiting for the USFL to die a death attributable to dollar anemia.

The USFL's brass firmly believed it was in the best interest of the NFL to accept eight or so USFL teams into the NFL for perhaps the 1986 season. It was an action on those terms that would give the NFL control of virtually every major television market in the nation, a factor that would all but doom any other attempt to ever start a new league and begin a merger to end all other possible future competition that was the USFL's strategy.

The USFL's suit couldn't have come at a worse time for the NFL. Don't forget that the league owners were under a court order to pay $50 Million Dollars in damages to Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, after a successful antitrust suit over the move of his club from Oakland to Los Angeles.

Let us also remember what history has taught us. up to that time, about the world of Professional football. That nearly 40 years ago, 1966 to be exact, the NFL reluctantly opened it's doors to the American Football League, and action that some believed saved the NFL from and untimely death of it's own back then.



This was setting leading up to the Trial......

__________________________________________________ ___

The Setting

The USFL planed a new look for its 1986 campaign. Eight of last year’s 14 teams would remain, and they have been realigned into two divisions, the Liberty (Baltimore, Birmingham, New Jersey, and the Memphis Showboats) and the Independence (the Arizona Outlaws, Jacksonville Bulls, Orlando Renegades, and Tampa Bay Bandits). The schedule was to consist of 18 games with the two division winners and three wild cards qualifying for the playoffs. The title game would be played in Jacksonville, FL.

On August 22, 1984, the owners of the USFL franchises announced plans to shift their league’s playing schedule to the fall of 1986, following a third spring season in ’85.

On October 17, 1984, the USFL filed a $1.32 billion antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League, charging that the NFL engaged in monopolistic acts and practices. The USFL claimed that the NFL’s contracts with ABC, CBS, and NBC had made it impossible for it to obtain a network television contract for its first fall season, and that the NFL had exerted pressure on three major networks not to negotiate with the USFL.

The NFL had denied the charges and contended that the suit was an attempt by the USFL to force a merger (it was revealed in court that in USFL commissioner Harry Usher’s contract is a provision that he receive $400,000 for each USFL team absorbed into the NFL in a merger) and thus help the USFL to recover from its financial losses. The NFL claims that those losses were self-inflicted, brought about by the USFL’s failure to adhere to its original concept: namely, a league of competitive though lesser (and lesser-priced) talents which would provide an exciting game to those fans for whom, apparently, five months of football was inadequate.

Attorney Harvey Myerson presented “smoking guns,” that is, evidence he believed supported the USFL charges. On February 29, 1984, Harvard professor Michael Porter conducted a seminar titled “How to Conquer the USFL,” which was arranged by the National Football League Management Council for a group of NFL executives. But Porter said the purpose of the seminar was not to conquer but to recommend ideas on how to deal with the new league. A letter from NFL counsel Jay Moyer on March 13 of that same year to Jack Donlan, the executive director of the Management Council, stated that the Porter presentation “offers approaches that are largely impractical or legally impermissible.” And NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle rejected the idea of letting Porter address the owners of the league teams when they convened.

Myerson also introduced a memo, dated August 4, 1983, from Donlan on “Spending the USFL Dollar,” which instructed his staff members to investigate the contracts of USFL players and perhaps look into the possibility of offering higher NFL pacts to some of them, thereby forcing the USFL to match or increase the NFL’s price in order to keep those players.

The issue was simply this: Did the NFL prevent the USFL from getting a network contract television for the fall, or were the networks simply not interested in the USFL product?

The NFL pointed to its contracts with CBS and NBC, which televised games on Sunday afternoons. Accordingly, that would leave any other days or nights available for USFL games, or other entertainment, to be picked up. There was also the NFL contract with ABC, which televises games on Monday (and selected Sunday and Thursday) nights. Likewise, any other days and nights would then be available for other programming. In pretrial depositions, Jim Spence, the former vice president of sports at ABC, and Neal Pilson, the vice president of sports at CBS, denied that the NFL put pressure on them not to televise USFL contests. They said their decisions were made for economic reasons.

In his opening statement Myerson asked the six-member jury to keep in mind during the trial the name of Austrian writer Franz Kafka, who said, “wrote that people look at things an say the opposite.”

If the United States Football League was to survive, it was going to take a major metamorphosis of its current condition. It would take a victory in the trial.



This is how the trial and it's subsequent appeals went......

__________________________________________________ ___



The Trial


The judge: Peter K. Leisure, Southern District of New York


The jury: Patricia McCabe (foreperson), Steven Ziegler, Margaret Lilienfeld (replaced Wendell James), Bernez Stephens, Patricia Sibilia, Miriam Sanchez

Following the USFL's second season, its owners decided to file a lawsuit against the National Football League for violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Also named as a defendant was Pete Rozelle, commissioner of the NFL, while Al Davis and his Los Angeles Raiders were excluded from the suit in exchange for Davis's testimony for the USFL. The league sought actual damages of $567 million dollars which, when trebled, would amount to more than $1.7 billion.

Chief among the USFL's arguments was that the NFL, which had contracts with ABC, NBC and CBS, had pressured the networks to not televise the USFL in the fall. The league also claimed that the NFL had followed the practices outlined in the Porter Presentation, a package compiled by a Harvard professor to show the NFL how to conquer its new competitor. In particular, the USFL maintained that the NFL had conspired to harm the Oakland Invaders and New Jersey Generals.

The trial, which lasted 48 days, produced more than 7100 pages of transcripts and thousands of pages of exhibits. Among those testifying were Rozelle, USFL commissioner Harry Usher, Howard Cosell, Davis, Donald Trump and a litany of television executives. Additionally, team owners from both leagues, including the late owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits, John Bassett, via videotape, were called to testify.

On July 29, 1986, the United States Football League won the battle but lost its war against the National Football League. After five days of deliberation, the jury that heard the USFL's case against the NFL found the older league guilty of monopolizing professional football and of using predatory tactics but awarded the USFL just $1 in damages. The fact that the antitrust award was trebled to $3 was of little solace to the struggling owners of the eight remaining USFL teams.

While the jury found that the NFL had willfully acquired and maintained a monopolization of professional football, it ruled against the rest of the USFL's claims. It did not find that the NFL controlled or attempted to control the television market. The vital claims were those based on television revenues, and those were the ones that the jury did not accept.

The jury felt that the USFL had abandoned its original plan to patiently build fan support while containing costs and had instead pursued a merger strategy. Moreover, the announced move to the fall also caused the abandonment of major markets and led to further fan skepticism. In essence, the jury ruled that although the USFL was harmed by the NFL's monopolization of pro football, most of the upstart league's problems were the result of its own mismanagement. Statements reflecting jury confusion were subsequently ignored.

On August 4, 1986, the USFL decided to suspend operations for the upcoming season. The league released most of its remaining players to look for employment in the NFL or Canadian Football League shortly thereafter. The league would not play another game.

The USFL's request for a new trial on damages was rejected, and subsequent appeals were unsuccessful. The league was able to win its court costs back, but this amounted to just $6-10 million.



__________________________________________________ ________________



The Appeal
USFL denied request for NFL retrial


(c) USA TODAY - FINAL EDITION - SPORTS - FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

MARCH 11, 1988



The United States Football League lost its hope for a new trial Thursday when a federal appeals court upheld the $3 damage award it got in an antitrust suit against the National Football League.

The USFL, which lost $163 million from 1983-85, included four requests - all denied - in its appeal: an overturned verdict, a new damages trial, a new trial in the case, or a new finding on damages.

The ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York is unlikely to affect the NFL's expansion plans. Commissioner Pete Rozelle had tied expansion to a new TV pact, the USFL suit and a new labor agreement. ``But then the commissioner updated it,'' said NFL spokesman Joe Browne. ``He said, barring unforeseen developments, he hoped there would be two expansion teams two years after a new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) was signed.''

Judge Ralph K. Winter wrote in the 91-page opinion on the USFL's appeal: ``There was ample evidence that the USFL failed because it did not make the painstaking investment and patient efforts that bring credibility, stability and public recognition to a sports league.''

[superscoutken]

Officially, the USFL was asking the courts to declare illegal the NFL's long-standing relationships with the three major television networks, NBC, CBS, and ABC. The NFL, so claims the USFL, has an "influence" over the networks that precludes the new loop from competing as a "major league" in professional football.

As a remedy to the problem, the USFL had asked the Federal Courts to divide the NFL into two separate and competing 14-member leagues, with each league limited to a contract with one major network. Or, the USFL asked, limit the NFL to maintaining contracts with no more than two major networks in any case. The USFL was also seeking to prohibit the NFL from making future service contract offers to players under contract to the USFL and ban exclusive use pacts for the use of stadiums while prohibiting the NFL from signing football officials to contracts that keep them from working in the USFL as well.

The USFL's legal action was born in the league's decision to challenge the NFL head-on via a fall schedule beginning in 1986, the USFL said it would move it's games from the spring to the fall, banging heads with the more established and respected NFL.

Reasoning was based on finances. With losses over the $100 Million Dollar mark for the first two seasons as a spring time venture, USFL owners decided to wage War with their big brothers. The legal challenge alleged negotiating a lucrative television contract had been extremely difficult. The NFL, suit charges, in order to protect it's own five year, $2.1 billion dollar contract with the three networks, had exerted sufficient influence upon the networks to minimize their interests in the USFL.

Given the NFL's tendency to have come out losers in the courts back then, the USFL was banking on the NFL coming to terms with them rather than battling the antitrust suit in the courts or waiting for the USFL to die a death attributable to dollar anemia.

The USFL's brass firmly believed it was in the best interest of the NFL to accept eight or so USFL teams into the NFL for perhaps the 1986 season. It was an action on those terms that would give the NFL control of virtually every major television market in the nation, a factor that would all but doom any other attempt to ever start a new league and begin a merger to end all other possible future competition that was the USFL's strategy.

The USFL's suit couldn't have come at a worse time for the NFL. Don't forget that the league owners were under a court order to pay $50 Million Dollars in damages to Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, after a successful antitrust suit over the move of his club from Oakland to Los Angeles.

Let us also remember what history has taught us. up to that time, about the world of Professional football. That nearly 40 years ago, 1966 to be exact, the NFL reluctantly opened it's doors to the American Football League, and action that some believed saved the NFL from and untimely death of it's own back then.



This was setting leading up to the Trial......

__________________________________________________ ___

The Setting

The USFL planed a new look for its 1986 campaign. Eight of last year’s 14 teams would remain, and they have been realigned into two divisions, the Liberty (Baltimore, Birmingham, New Jersey, and the Memphis Showboats) and the Independence (the Arizona Outlaws, Jacksonville Bulls, Orlando Renegades, and Tampa Bay Bandits). The schedule was to consist of 18 games with the two division winners and three wild cards qualifying for the playoffs. The title game would be played in Jacksonville, FL.

On August 22, 1984, the owners of the USFL franchises announced plans to shift their league’s playing schedule to the fall of 1986, following a third spring season in ’85.

On October 17, 1984, the USFL filed a $1.32 billion antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League, charging that the NFL engaged in monopolistic acts and practices. The USFL claimed that the NFL’s contracts with ABC, CBS, and NBC had made it impossible for it to obtain a network television contract for its first fall season, and that the NFL had exerted pressure on three major networks not to negotiate with the USFL.

The NFL had denied the charges and contended that the suit was an attempt by the USFL to force a merger (it was revealed in court that in USFL commissioner Harry Usher’s contract is a provision that he receive $400,000 for each USFL team absorbed into the NFL in a merger) and thus help the USFL to recover from its financial losses. The NFL claims that those losses were self-inflicted, brought about by the USFL’s failure to adhere to its original concept: namely, a league of competitive though lesser (and lesser-priced) talents which would provide an exciting game to those fans for whom, apparently, five months of football was inadequate.

Attorney Harvey Myerson presented “smoking guns,” that is, evidence he believed supported the USFL charges. On February 29, 1984, Harvard professor Michael Porter conducted a seminar titled “How to Conquer the USFL,” which was arranged by the National Football League Management Council for a group of NFL executives. But Porter said the purpose of the seminar was not to conquer but to recommend ideas on how to deal with the new league. A letter from NFL counsel Jay Moyer on March 13 of that same year to Jack Donlan, the executive director of the Management Council, stated that the Porter presentation “offers approaches that are largely impractical or legally impermissible.” And NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle rejected the idea of letting Porter address the owners of the league teams when they convened.

Myerson also introduced a memo, dated August 4, 1983, from Donlan on “Spending the USFL Dollar,” which instructed his staff members to investigate the contracts of USFL players and perhaps look into the possibility of offering higher NFL pacts to some of them, thereby forcing the USFL to match or increase the NFL’s price in order to keep those players.

The issue was simply this: Did the NFL prevent the USFL from getting a network contract television for the fall, or were the networks simply not interested in the USFL product?

The NFL pointed to its contracts with CBS and NBC, which televised games on Sunday afternoons. Accordingly, that would leave any other days or nights available for USFL games, or other entertainment, to be picked up. There was also the NFL contract with ABC, which televises games on Monday (and selected Sunday and Thursday) nights. Likewise, any other days and nights would then be available for other programming. In pretrial depositions, Jim Spence, the former vice president of sports at ABC, and Neal Pilson, the vice president of sports at CBS, denied that the NFL put pressure on them not to televise USFL contests. They said their decisions were made for economic reasons.

In his opening statement Myerson asked the six-member jury to keep in mind during the trial the name of Austrian writer Franz Kafka, who said, “wrote that people look at things an say the opposite.”

If the United States Football League was to survive, it was going to take a major metamorphosis of its current condition. It would take a victory in the trial.



This is how the trial and it's subsequent appeals went......

__________________________________________________ ___



The Trial


The judge: Peter K. Leisure, Southern District of New York


The jury: Patricia McCabe (foreperson), Steven Ziegler, Margaret Lilienfeld (replaced Wendell James), Bernez Stephens, Patricia Sibilia, Miriam Sanchez

Following the USFL's second season, its owners decided to file a lawsuit against the National Football League for violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Also named as a defendant was Pete Rozelle, commissioner of the NFL, while Al Davis and his Los Angeles Raiders were excluded from the suit in exchange for Davis's testimony for the USFL. The league sought actual damages of $567 million dollars which, when trebled, would amount to more than $1.7 billion.

Chief among the USFL's arguments was that the NFL, which had contracts with ABC, NBC and CBS, had pressured the networks to not televise the USFL in the fall. The league also claimed that the NFL had followed the practices outlined in the Porter Presentation, a package compiled by a Harvard professor to show the NFL how to conquer its new competitor. In particular, the USFL maintained that the NFL had conspired to harm the Oakland Invaders and New Jersey Generals.

The trial, which lasted 48 days, produced more than 7100 pages of transcripts and thousands of pages of exhibits. Among those testifying were Rozelle, USFL commissioner Harry Usher, Howard Cosell, Davis, Donald Trump and a litany of television executives. Additionally, team owners from both leagues, including the late owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits, John Bassett, via videotape, were called to testify.

On July 29, 1986, the United States Football League won the battle but lost its war against the National Football League. After five days of deliberation, the jury that heard the USFL's case against the NFL found the older league guilty of monopolizing professional football and of using predatory tactics but awarded the USFL just $1 in damages. The fact that the antitrust award was trebled to $3 was of little solace to the struggling owners of the eight remaining USFL teams.

While the jury found that the NFL had willfully acquired and maintained a monopolization of professional football, it ruled against the rest of the USFL's claims. It did not find that the NFL controlled or attempted to control the television market. The vital claims were those based on television revenues, and those were the ones that the jury did not accept.

The jury felt that the USFL had abandoned its original plan to patiently build fan support while containing costs and had instead pursued a merger strategy. Moreover, the announced move to the fall also caused the abandonment of major markets and led to further fan skepticism. In essence, the jury ruled that although the USFL was harmed by the NFL's monopolization of pro football, most of the upstart league's problems were the result of its own mismanagement. Statements reflecting jury confusion were subsequently ignored.

On August 4, 1986, the USFL decided to suspend operations for the upcoming season. The league released most of its remaining players to look for employment in the NFL or Canadian Football League shortly thereafter. The league would not play another game.

The USFL's request for a new trial on damages was rejected, and subsequent appeals were unsuccessful. The league was able to win its court costs back, but this amounted to just $6-10 million.



__________________________________________________ ________________



The Appeal
USFL denied request for NFL retrial


(c) USA TODAY - FINAL EDITION - SPORTS - FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

MARCH 11, 1988



The United States Football League lost its hope for a new trial Thursday when a federal appeals court upheld the $3 damage award it got in an antitrust suit against the National Football League.

The USFL, which lost $163 million from 1983-85, included four requests - all denied - in its appeal: an overturned verdict, a new damages trial, a new trial in the case, or a new finding on damages.

The ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York is unlikely to affect the NFL's expansion plans. Commissioner Pete Rozelle had tied expansion to a new TV pact, the USFL suit and a new labor agreement. ``But then the commissioner updated it,'' said NFL spokesman Joe Browne. ``He said, barring unforeseen developments, he hoped there would be two expansion teams two years after a new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) was signed.''

Judge Ralph K. Winter wrote in the 91-page opinion on the USFL's appeal: ``There was ample evidence that the USFL failed because it did not make the painstaking investment and patient efforts that bring credibility, stability and public recognition to a sports league.''

The NFL's average salary in 1983 was $152,800. A year later, after the USFL began paying fat salaries and creating a bidding war with the NFL, the average salary was $225,600, an increase of 47.6 percent -- the largest jump in the league's history

[superscoutken]

.......the XFL was most likely in a behind the scenes agreement with the NFL & NBC to shut down the league after a year so that the public would perceive a league could not work even if it had a TV network behind it.[/quote]


It's hard to believe anybody could make a statement like this and pretend to be serious at the same time. You are suggesting that Vince and the WWF was in bed with the NFL, which is about as mindless as any other conspiracy theory put forward by the tinfoil-hat-wearing-goofballs.

This one sentance tells me everything I need to know about you and your venture .........[/quote]

The XFL was the biggest and most embarrassing bust in network television history! Everything about it from "He Hate Me" to the bush-league game play sucked! THE RULES WERE CHANGED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEASON FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! NBC and Vince McMahon will NEVER live this down!
I was waiting for Bruno Samartino to pull and lead block for Bob Backlund with Jimmy Superfly Snooka making the tackle. I'd take Mean Gene in the MNF booth over Dennis any day!
I harkened back for the USFL. Think about that statement.
Nothing better than having a governor in the booth. Crap!
It jumped when Burger King started making commercials that spoofed it, and the audience realized that the action in the commercials was more realistic and entertaining than the XFL.
When Jack in the Box made fun of it. But also day one, it was pretty lame, and NFL does have a lock on professional football (though they did change their coverage a little because of the XFL) A previous post said that Burger King commercials were making fun, I don't remember any. I do remember Jack in the Box promos that had some satire (the Carnivores!). When a national based fast food joint makes fun of it you know it has Jumped
I actually watched some of this league's games, just to see what it would be like. The whole experience was RUINED by Jesse Ventura, the game's "analyst". Easily the worst announcer I ever saw, he killed any chance of the league living on. The league could have survived on cable, but because of The Body, we'll never know.
Let me see... these are guys who weren't good enough to make it into the NFL, CFL, or NFL EUROPE (in that order). Who wants to see a fourth-class football league? Besides, football fans watch football to see a real game, not all the WWF sideshow garbage that was attached to this fiasco.
I know I'll catch hell for this, but IMHO the XFL would've worked out if league had just gotten the tender loving care that it needed.
When I watched my first XFL game, I had a headache. Watching the XFL only made it worse. Besides, any sports show with Mike Adamle on it is doomed--he is the Ted McGinley of sportscasters.
Was this supposed to compete with the NFL? Let's hope not
Well, the XFL wasn't so great in the first place, but at least it was watchable... until they had that godawful halftime cheerleader "dream sequence" during one of the prime time games. The gigantic sucking sound you hear is any credibility the XFL had going down the tubes.
This idea was asinine from the beginning. The only reason to watch was the pre-game show. Opie and Anthony rule! This was my second favorite show behind "Jim Norton's Kid-Touching, Hair-Tussling, Mule-Gobbling Parade of Awful Whores"
The first week was fun, interesting, and kept my attention. Then came the second week, when I realised the league was worse than the Detriot Lions. And I watched that cheerleader movie...dear god! That sucked! On primetime ads on every channel for weeks, too. Shame on Vince for failing after conquering the wrestling market. How about an XFL pro team in the NFL, though? Just leave out HE HATE ME.
When Minnesota's esteemed Governor took on a coach thats when the show died and, we're better off for it!
When, I think it was in the first week, the players introduced themselves and one of them Said "I want to give a shout out to all my Peeps on Riker's Island".
Since it was widely known that Vince McMahon was behind this football folly, people were expecting it to be as exciting as the WWF. But the only way to make that much excitement happen in this venture was if the on-field action were scripted; rigged is another term, I believe.
Yes the talent level wasn't there,but it was better than NLFEurope talent wise. I'd rather watch a "bad" football game any day over a game in any other sport...That is except for arena (read fake 50yard) football.
Come people, what did you expect? I think it wasn't on long enough to jump, it might have developed into something else had it more time. I can't say I remember one team name, but common sense would tell you this was A SHOW not really sports, it was an attempt to try something different, so what is the harm. Gosh, everybody is so willing to be so hostile. So what if it didn't live up to expectations. It was fun just to see what would happen. It reminds me of Al Capone's Vaults with Geraldo Rivera, he kept saying "I don't know what we will find, it may be nothing". Well he found nothing, and everybody was on his ass about not finding anything. So what, he tried. Give people a break when they at least try to do something, anything. People who are ready jump on the XFL forget that it at least encompassed the American spirit to be inventive. It fell short, but so what. Somebody will try again and learn from the mistakes of the XFL and it might work next time. As for me, it delivered no more and no less than what I expected, and I respect that. I'd like see it make a come back into something that might actually work as entertainment that people won't complain about.
JTS when the soon-to-be San Jose Demons became the San Francisco Demons. They lost about 50 percent of their fan base in the Bay Area with that move. Nobody wants to drive 50 + miles to see a piece of sh*t team play in a piece of sh*t league. Nice try Vince
The XFL jumped a year before Day One of the League, that being February 3, 2000, when it was announced that NBC and the WWF (now WWE) were creating a football league.
No naked cheerleaders I mean if they wanted to call themselves Xtreme then they need to at least show nudity. THe show was a real c*ck tease.
Opening game player introductions - one player flashed a gang symbol and another set the tone for the downward spiral by uttering three infamous words - "He hate me." Rod Smart backed up his "Hating" trash talk by becoming a mediocre player.
I'll admit I watched the first couple weeks. But what killed it for me were the countless interview segments on the show. I mean every player's story seemed all the same he was either too old or not talented enough for the NFL so he's here. And they didn't show the cheerleaders nearly enough. Like during halftime instead of the cheerleaders they show the guys sitting around in the locker room doing nothing.
The XFL jumped the shark from the first game. The camera angles were bad. They would show the game from the view of the sky. It was not good. The competition was very little. The players were all the people that didn't make the NFL.
It jumped when McMahon had to get people from the then WWF like King and the Rock to beg you to see the XFL because it was so "great." I really thought this league would be a contender for the NFL. I stopped watching the second week and completely ignored it by the fourth week. Ironically, I have returned to watching the NFL, if only to see the Panthers lose in my area.
Vince Mcmahon..THIS IS THE XFLLLLERRRLLLRAGGGG How about when NBC only showed the crowd in LA when there was five thousand people in a 90,000 seat stadium. They only showed just far enough to make it look like it was a full house. The Raiders had trouble selling that place out. Think Mcfly think.
Analyzing why the entire XFL franchise flopped is another matter altogether but regarding the "XFL on NBC", I say "Day One" because I watched for about 10 minutes and realized that this was a haphazard attempt to blend CFL and American-college style-ball into a U.S. product. Kudos for trying, but it didn't work in translation. VKM would have been better off buying the Arena League; his pyrotechnic vision might have fit better there. For anyone who actually stuck around to watch longer than a week, they'd probably tell you the XFL jumped when they started changing rules.....in the middle of the season! In fact (someone correct me if I'm wrong) but I believe that the league actually changed rules GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS. Words can't express how bush-league that is (three-point convert? What's next, five-point safeties?). Oh, and BTW, it merits mentioning that when Vince launched the XFL, WWE Canada prez Carl Demarco crowed about how the CFL would regret not selling out to Vinnie Mac and that he would prove the doubters wrong. Well, as of this typing, the CFL just had its most watched game ever and the XFL wasn't around long enough to even put a dent in its cross-border rival. If Vince had bought the CFL, we'd have had the double pleasure of watching the league sell off its uniqueness AND fail as a business. Yeah, Carl, lotta regrets there.....
It jumped when the whole idea was conceived. I'm from MN and naturally having Guv Jesse as the announcer was a major controversy here. Much as it pains me to admit, I initially thought this might succeed, if for no other reason than because Vince McMann has a real talent for turning crap into cash, but obviously not here. Problem was, unlike pro "wrestling", football is an actual sport, and no amount of showmanship can cover the simple fact that the playing wasn't up to the level of the NFL. You almost had to feel sorry for the players, especially after the novelty wore off after the first week or so and the TV cameras did their lame efforts to disguise the facts that the stands were mostly empty.
I actually liked the XFL, which I know puts me in a very, very small minority. Yes, we all knew that these weren't NFL caliber players or matchups, but the games were typically competitive, there seemed to be more action and novelty in the games than in most nfl games (eg, the tussle to get the ball first compared to a boring coin flip, I really did like some of the camera angles (the overhead field camera is something the nfl actually picked up on), and, well, its football, which instantly makes it more watchable than say, baseball. I could never understand the "its just inferior players going up against each other" argument. If thats the biggest problem, then why do so many people watch college football. They are games pitting inferior players against each other. I'm sure that less than 1% of players on major college teams even get a tryout at an NFL camp, let alone making the team. Most of these guys were top notch college players in their day, and have pro experience now to back them up. I think the main reason that XFL failed was that it came on too strong, too fast. It needed to develop underground, not on a main network. Start small, get a solid and loyal following, and then start getting more attention, drawing new viewers in. As it was, its first game was on NBC in primetime, implicitly billed as something better than the nfl. When it didn't/couldn't live up to expectations, it became a national laughingstock, which took on a life of its own. It didn't help that the mainstream sports media hate wrestling and Vince McMahon and were going to ridicule the XFL as if it were a contagious disease. And yes, the Governor as well as the schill WWF announcers really hurt the product by calling the games as though they were wrestling matches. Whats unfortunate is that the complacent NFL could really use a kick in the pants to jazz up the game, and the XFL with its edgy environment, rougher rules, and in-your-face attitude would have been a great antagonist. Too bad it died so quickly.
I don't believe it ever did. I'm also in a very small percentage that liked the XFL. I had media creds through my college newspaper, so I was on the sideline for all the Orlando games, and I believe that if ANYONE other than Vince McMahon had been at the helm of the XFL, the media (ESPN, esp.) would of hyped the hell out of it, but because Vince makes billions a year with pro wrasslin they resent the hell out of him and he was blackballed. You can't tell me that if Ted Turner or Rupert Murdoch had put EXACTLY the same product on the field, it would of gotten the same response. McMahon got hosed.
Oh, this could have been wonderful. The execution here was awful; why the hell did they try to make it an actual sporting event? Where's the chicanery and entertainment in that? One scenario, on the house: QB from team A is having a bad game, throws a few interceptions, really hearing it from the fans. Next drive: he runs to the opposing end zone, safeties himself, removes his jersey to expose his team B jersey. You know, things like that? Isn't that what we were hoping for? One of the above posters mention that the NFL nicked the overhead cam; they actually nicked almost the entire broadcast package. For such a dismal failure, the XFL managed to alter the way NFL games are broadcast, if not played.
I thought maybe this new league might be fun to watch, but after mildly enjoying all the early hype, I was actually watching a game and saw Mr. "He Hate Me." One look at those words on the guy's jersey told me this was a sad farce, NFL meets Trash TV. Also, after only a few weeks of play, it was depressing in a comical way to hear the quarterbacks' "Hut!....Hut!...." echoing loudly in all those big, empty, empty stadiums.
We all know that the XFL wasn't the greatest football in the world,(not even close.) But I think the demise of the XFL cannot be traced to the quality of play, having Jesse Ventura in the announcers' booth or even Vince McMahon. What killed it is THE MEDIA'S PERCEPTION AND VIEW OF VINCE McMAHON. I'm in full agreement with an earlier post that stated:"If anyone else had started the XFL, it would have been hyped by ESPN, FoxSportsNet, etc." But since it was Vinnie Mac (whom a lot of people love to blame for all of society's ills.) The Media was out to kill it. I don't agree with everything Vince does, but he does know how to make $$$ from it and most of media hate him for it.
The XFL was something you watched a couple of times out of curiosity and then lost interest. It never had much chance. But it did produce a classic moment when the camera went into the locker room and caught a glimpse of someone using the urinal.
The XFL went where the NFL wouldn't go. The locker room at halftime to see the coaches go postal on their team, the 50 yard dash for first ball rather than an uneventful coin flip. and Jesse Ventura as a colour man. I don't see why people hate Ventura he was a great announcer for WWF back when it was at the height of its popularity, and the xfl made football more interesting.
This league had potential and I wish it was still on...just with less fluff and more football. Bad pro football beats regular season NBA or NHL. Heck, bad little league football beats regular season NBA or NHL. Too bad Vinny Mac tried to make it WWF2 instead of just focusing on the product. Btw: The WNBA'S numbers are every bit as bad as the XFL's. When will the suits pull the plug on it?
It was hyped to be "real" football and it wasn't. But I did love some of the different rules - the battle for the ball at the start rather than the coin flip, the "non-automatic" extra point where they had to make a 2 yard play (like going for 2 in the NFL and college), and the free ball after 25 yards on the punt. The players pretty much sucked, although a few of them do still dot the NFL rosters (look at Tommy Maddox of the Steelers, the one and only league MVP). But they could have done without Jesse Ventura. Biggest problem was trying to take this seriously. Of course, now NBC is doing the Arena League which is the same bad football without the WWE. Oh, and by the way, I LIKED "He Hate Me" - I thought that was hilarious. A lot better than the "No Fun League".
As ESPN columnist Bill Simmons said, "There's comedy, there's high comedy, and there's unintentional comedy." He Hate Me (Rod Smart) fits in the latter category.
The XFL had no way to snatch up a superior batch of players to the NFL, so they relied on innovation for a while. That sky-cam thing (which the NFL has since ripped off), the coin toss replacement, and the alias jerseys all made it feel like something different. And it was for a while. Then Jesse Ventura, quite possibly the WORST ANNOUNCER EVER, got in the booth. The sky-cam thing was gone. The jersey aliases got old. Jim Ross actually did a decent job, but after a while, everything that made the XFL unique was gone, except for the sub-par play and Jesse Ventura.
The XFL jumped when it was decided to take the cameras into the locker rooms and seeing all these guys getting all pissed and throwing things around, right? Well someone must have forgotten to tell these guys because when I saw it, there was nothing but a bunch of players sitting around listening to the coach. You might think the coach woulda been a little miffed his team was down 19, but there he was calmly telling everyone just to play the game and stick to the game plan. During the speech, we at home got to see the great visuals of players eating oranges and drinking water. Now that's must see TV. Al the hype for this kind of "action" was very disappointing.
Since I'm a football fan, I gave the XFL every chance in the world to succeed and watched all the games on TV until the very bitter end. And there were probably earlier moments in its comatose infancy that it jumped the shark, but the nail in the coffin had to be Vince McMahon's overhyped and highly questionable cheerleader lockerroom skit. That piece of pure corniness should've been saved for his wrasslin' shows. If Vince had only let the football players play football and kept the wrasslin' gimmicks where they belonged, then his league would still be alive (although on a smaller scale, but still alive!).
I am one of the few who actually liked the XFL. There was a good deal there to enjoy, including the often subversive in jokes. Things like "He Hate Me" were a big thumbing at the NFL's overzealous control of the players and the game itself. Who cares if a jersey is tucked in or not? Or the players let the towel hang longer than normal? This is what the XFL hoped to be, but it went far to overboard by McMahon hyping it up like the faked wrestling matches on WWF. I do agree that McMahon was blackballed by the so called "experts" and refused to see the game for what it was: real players play a real game. No more whining about ten million dollars not being enough money to sit on the sidelines as a second stringer. If the XFL had just stayed as a regular game that thumbed it's nose at the NFL it would have done far better.
IT NEVER JUMPED! This league was great! If they had kept it going I think they would have been OK. It was funny though when a player got hurt on that opening run for the ball thing they did. BRING BACK THE MILLION DOLLAR GAME!
It doesn't matter what kind of gimmicks you put in, you have to perform on the field. The quality of play on the XFL was poor to say the least. All the NFL has-beens and never-wases couldn't save it.
I was so excited, and pumped by the XFL hype, that I couldn't wait for the XFL to arrive. I don't know if XFL was to compete with the NFL, because if I remember correctly, XFL launched in the spring, and ideally would wrap up just in time for the NFL to kick off. Which would have been a dream come true for football fans like myself! My first thought that the XFL was in trouble was when they teamed with NBC. Sure a major network is a great partner, until they schedule your games on Saturday nights!! But I struggled ahead and watched the hype, and then the premier came on.......the XFL seemed to have the production values of your local high school game. The names on the jerseys were too much, and having WWE announcers really didn't help. (I mean I wouldn't want to hear John Madden call a wrestling match!) Like a previous poster noted, the camera angles were awful, and I felt really removed from the game. There were too many changes, like the scramble for the ball, and no extra point. I wanted just basic football!! I can appreciate what Vince McMahon tried to do, but I think he bit off too much, and tried to change too much for the average fan. It also didn't help that I did not have a local team to cheer for, and even if I did, the odds of my team's game being shown on the one televised game of the week would have been small. I really wanted the XFL to succeed, but it just wasn't real football. So I would say the XFL jumped when they went live to the first game.
I was happy to see football being played in the spring & actually gave the XFL a shot. However, I found it more to be a comedy show than a football game. The cameras on the field, no extra point, no coin toss and the "live ball punts" were good ideas, but no one really cared. I thought the funniest moment was when Rod Smart (He Hate Me) ran off the field getting ready to be interviewed, as soon as Jim Gray asked him a question he ran back on the field. Jim looked at the camera and said "Now back to you guys in the booth." I also thought Jesse Ventura doing football commentary was a big laugh a well as all the so called "hype."Who cared if the Hitmen coach was upset with Jesse Ventura. Who really cared that the Express won the Million Dollar game. Nice try, NBC but better luck next time. The ski's were put on during the opening kickoff...I mean opening scramble for the black and red ball!
The actual demise of the show is quite obvious. The first game shown in the XFL's season between the New York/New Jersey Hitmen and Las Vegas Outlaws was absolutely pitiful. I believe the final score was 16-0. The play was poor and the camera work needed a lot of work. I also believe that at one point in that game there was technical difficulties which resulted in the telecast switching to a San Francisco Demons @ Orlando Range game. These problems coupled together pretty much spelled the demise of the XFL, which had astronomical ratings in it's first week, but put forth a poor telecast and product in that first game. I'm not sure if the NY/NJ-vegas game was the national game or not. I'm assuming that it probably was, in which case had the Orlando game been shown full length to begin with, I feel we might have had a second or possibly third XFL season. To my memory, the Orlando San Fran. game appeared to be highly competitive from the little I saw towards the end, and the score was within 3 points, with both teams scoring well over 30 pts (40s maybe). If this were the national telecast that inaugural week, the viewership would not fall from the multi-millions to the few million for the second week. I personally, like a few posters I have seen here, really enjoyed the XFL. Yes, it did not have the product, but a lot of the games were close, and better than most of those awful college games we see on TV (you know what I mean, those #1 teams versus unranked schools, and any Notre Dame game). It was also better than the Arena League, NFL Europe, and CFL ball combined. The innovations of the league were interesting, and really made it unique to it's NFL counterpart. The "scramble for possession" was possibly the greatest idea, and I hope one day the NFL incorporates it. You should EARN possession, not been lucky and have a game's outcome be decided by how a ref flips a coin (i.e- windy games where choosing which goal you want to defend in the 4th is vital). Another great idea was eliminating the "fair catch." There was still a hallow rule to protect the players, but there was none of that let the ball roll 10 yards or have a guy fair catch b/c of his fear of a hit. A third innovation was the ditch the QB pansy protection. Quarterbacks could NOT slide, just like it should be. How can any quarterback be considered "tough" if he can slide when he runs. You don't see half backs being able to slide. Of course, an innovation that many forget is ditching the easy extra points. You had to actually run/pass for an extra point, no freebie kicks which are made 99.7% of the time. Allowing players to have random jeresey names was very amusing. I enjoyed the random sideshows. Hell, if it's a bad game, at least I can be entertained by players from opposing teams insulting each other with attacking names on their jerseys. The spat with Jesse Ventura and the Hitmen coach was another amusing event. The cheerleader piece was awful, and truly desperate on McMahon's behalf. Some of the overhead angles were annoying, but as the season progressed (yes, I watched all the way through the Xtreme victory of the Demons) the camera work improved dramatically, and the overhead angles were used better (yes, the NFL does use overhead angles at times now). There were many reasons why the league didn't succeed, some I have mentioned above. The biggest perhaps would have to be that there was no real "star" of the league. Tommy-gun Maddox and Saladin McCalaough of the Xtremes? No. Had the XFL done something crazy such as get refrigerator perry or Dan Marino to play a season, I'm sure people would've loved to see that (although I'm not sure perry would've starred...). I liked the league, was disappointed with it's cancelling, but it really never lived up to the hype it created. I was entertained, a few of the crazy items could've been cut, but that first game of LV and NY/NJ disappointed interested people greatly, and caused it's demise.
~Dr. Knowledge

[Pounder]

The NFL's average salary in 1983 was $152,800. A year later, after the USFL began paying fat salaries and creating a bidding war with the NFL, the average salary was $225,600, an increase of 47.6 percent -- the largest jump in the league's history

That might be why fans would prefer an NFL monopoly to having competitive leagues.

[superscoutken]

The NFL's average salary in 1983 was $152,800. A year later, after the USFL began paying fat salaries and creating a bidding war with the NFL, the average salary was $225,600, an increase of 47.6 percent -- the largest jump in the league's history

That might be why fans would prefer an NFL monopoly to having competitive leagues. That's exactly the reason and the point I was trying to make to minnfan.I know that's the reason the NFL doesnt want one around but you think FANS prefer an NFL monopoly though? I dont know that most of them really think about what the consequences would be ultimately. I dont want a compete league for this reason though becasue ultimately the fans would suffer becasue of increased ticket prices and outrageous concession prices. They are already out of control .$7 for an 8oz beer is unbelievable, but the fans would still go if the football was quality.I'm not proposing a compete league though, just something that would be like the equivalent of CFL football as far as stadium size,salary size (maybe a little less overall) and the talent would be about the same probably a little lower caliber in the beginning until about the third year when we would then have three years of the top cuts from the NFL, CFL and AFL .

[Shootmaster_44]

I'm too young to remember the original USFL and the XFL was amusing forte into football. But what I don't understand is why someone would want to bring back a name that is shrouded in debt and failure. Why not come up with an original name for the league?

As far as the knock against "wrestling announcers" calling football games, one has to remember that Jim Ross in the early 90's was the voice of the Atlanta Falcons on their radio broadcasts.

The XFL was most interesting to me because of all the former CFL players in the league. If Vince McMahon had been serious about the venture he would've marketed the XFL better in Canada to highlight the former CFL stars in the league. But if you ask me his biggest mistake was to play during the winter. Who wants to go sit in the freezing cold in Chicago or New York to watch a minor league? The best idea is to run the league April to August. If you play your season during school holidays, more families may actually attend your games.

As well you can attract better players as well with the summer season. If you wait to open your camps until after the NFL draft, you can attract the players who are talented but were passed over because they didn't fit the mold. This is why the CFL has been successful for finding talented players.

I honestly believe that there is no need for new leagues to come on board. Between the NFL, NFL Europe, CFL, AFL, AF2, UIF, NIFL and the other alphabet arena leagues, there is not the market for another league. If you're serious about wanting to start a fan owned franchise, get enough investors together to obtain an expansion franchise in one of the existing leagues. I'm sick of all these fly-by-night operations springing up and taking advantage of those players who are trying make a career out of playing football.

If you're serious about wanting to bring spring football on major US network television, help the CFL to gain a network deal. Personally, I can't see any of the major networks taking on a spring league. NBC already has the AFL, Fox has MLB, ABC has the PGA and the WNBA and CBS has many different racing series, what network are you going to be on UPN? The WB? Pax Net? I don't think you'd make many new fans on these fringe networks. Besides, if the CFL a league which has been in existence for over 50 years cannot get a network deal, I really doubt a network would take a flyer on a new league that may or may not even get off the ground.

[superscoutken]

I'm too young to remember the original USFL and the XFL was amusing forte into football. But what I don't understand is why someone would want to bring back a name that is shrouded in debt and failure. Why not come up with an original name for the league?

As far as the knock against "wrestling announcers" calling football games, one has to remember that Jim Ross in the early 90's was the voice of the Atlanta Falcons on their radio broadcasts.

The XFL was most interesting to me because of all the former CFL players in the league. If Vince McMahon had been serious about the venture he would've marketed the XFL better in Canada to highlight the former CFL stars in the league. But if you ask me his biggest mistake was to play during the winter. Who wants to go sit in the freezing cold in Chicago or New York to watch a minor league? The best idea is to run the league April to August. If you play your season during school holidays, more families may actually attend your games.

As well you can attract better players as well with the summer season. If you wait to open your camps until after the NFL draft, you can attract the players who are talented but were passed over because they didn't fit the mold. This is why the CFL has been successful for finding talented players.

I honestly believe that there is no need for new leagues to come on board. Between the NFL, NFL Europe, CFL, AFL, AF2, UIF, NIFL and the other alphabet arena leagues, there is not the market for another league. If you're serious about wanting to start a fan owned franchise, get enough investors together to obtain an expansion franchise in one of the existing leagues. I'm sick of all these fly-by-night operations springing up and taking advantage of those players who are trying make a career out of playing football.

If you're serious about wanting to bring spring football on major US network television, help the CFL to gain a network deal. Personally, I can't see any of the major networks taking on a spring league. NBC already has the AFL, Fox has MLB, ABC has the PGA and the WNBA and CBS has many different racing series, what network are you going to be on UPN? The WB? Pax Net? I don't think you'd make many new fans on these fringe networks. Besides, if the CFL a league which has been in existence for over 50 years cannot get a network deal, I really doubt a network would take a flyer on a new league that may or may not even get off the ground.Thanks for the post......League would start after NFL draft in late May..........all players regardless of where we tell them they will be drafted or not still wait until the FA signings after the draft before they look elsewhere, then we need at least 3 weeks of camp together before we can start playing..........why USFL name?...........It's all about marketing my man..........There is no bad publicity....just publicity..........sure would stir some interest, naysayers, doubters, intrigue, hope & curiosity..........Thanks for your opinion my man....take it easy see you in the stands............Too much of a dropoff in pay for players after CFL & AFL..........need a league for players to make decent living while improving their skills..........

[superscoutken]

Me and some collegues have for years kicked around the idea of bringing back the old USFL and implementing the original plan: $20-$50K salary cap, non compete with NFL(hope to eventually have a 32 team minor league feeder system with NFL) like a AAA MLB team has, cable contract with USA or Comcast,play from May until Sept .There needs to be a viable outdoor football option for the fans.If we avg even 10 k(USFL avg 24k) fans/gm @ $20/ticket=$200k per home game X 8 home games =1.6mil. Salary avg 35k x 40 roster=1.4 mil, not to mention concessions & parking +TV( which we feel confident one of the cable networks would do to sell advertising) We just wanted to put out some feelers to see who would be interested in helping to put some of the plan in place.Game would be played on a Canadian sized 110 yd field. League is considering attempting to sign 5 back up NFL OLineman currently earning $300,000 per year or less to $500,000 contract per player up to $3million per team. Other 40 players would average $25,000 per year in salary to total $1million. Total player salaries would not exceed $4million per team. This would insure smooth play on the field with quality lineman, high scoring ,action games, would give the QB's time to throw, would develop quality DLineman and cover Corners.Teams would develop their own stars through this process rather than sign a top name player to a $10-$15 million per year contract and then see the play on the field be shoddy and attendance eventually decrease rather than increase.

[superscoutken]

Me and some collegues have for years kicked around the idea of bringing back the old USFL and implementing the original plan: $20-$50K salary cap, non compete with NFL(hope to eventually have a 32 team minor league feeder system with NFL) like a AAA MLB team has, cable contract with USA or Comcast,play from May until Sept .There needs to be a viable outdoor football option for the fans.If we avg even 10 k(USFL avg 24k) fans/gm @ $20/ticket=$200k per home game X 8 home games =1.6mil. Salary avg 35k x 40 roster=1.4 mil, not to mention concessions & parking +TV( which we feel confident one of the cable networks would do to sell advertising) We just wanted to put out some feelers to see who would be interested in helping to put some of the plan in place.Game would be played on a Canadian sized 110 yd field. League is considering attempting to sign 5 back up NFL OLineman currently earning $300,000 per year or less to $500,000 contract per player up to $3million per team. Other 40 players would average $25,000 per year in salary to total $1million. Total player salaries would not exceed $4million per team. This would insure smooth play on the field with quality lineman, high scoring ,action games, would give the QB's time to throw, would develop quality DLineman and cover Corners.Teams would develop their own stars through this process rather than sign a top name player to a $10-$15 million per year contract and then see the play on the field be shoddy and attendance eventually decrease rather than increase.



UNITED STATES FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Proposed Cities







INDEPENDENCE CONFERENCE
STADIUM
LOCAL NFL TRAINING CAMPS ( 28 NFL Teams)

Southern Division

North Carolina( Raleigh)

South Carolina (Clemson)
Greenville (Falcons), Spartanburg (Panthers)
Memphis Showboats
Nashville (Titans)
Birmingham Stalliona







Gulf Coast Division



Florida Bandits(Tallahassee)

Jacksonville(Jaguars),Lake Buena Vista( Buccaneers)

Miami

Davie (Dolphins)

Texas Gamblers ( Austin)

Houston (Texans)

San Antonio Gunslingers







LIBERTY CONFERENCE
STADIUM
LOCAL NFL TRAINING CAMPS

Eastern Division



Philadelphia Stars

Bethlehem,Pa(Eagles)

New York

Hempstead(Jets), Pittsford (Bills), Albany(Giants)

Norfolk

Ashburn (Redskins),Westminster (Ravens)

Pittsburgh Maulers

Latrobe,Pa (Steelers)

New Jersey Generals



Great Lakes Division



Canton,Oh

Berea (Browns)

Michigan Panthers

Allen Park(Lions)

Columbus,Oh



Chicago Blitz

Macomb (Rams),Bourbonnais (Bears)

Milwaukee

Depere (Packers), River Falls (Chiefs)





USFL-AAA- Development League
STADIUM


Professional Minor League System



Independently Owned & Operated







FAR WEST DIVISION



Fresno/Oakland Invaders

Santa Clara (49ers), Napa Valley (Raiders)

Southern California

Oxnard (Cowboys), Carson (Chargers)

Arizona Wranglers

Flagstaff(Cardinals)

Las Vegas







ROCKY MTN DIVISION



Colorado Springs

Englewood(Broncos)

Portland Breakers

Cheney (Seahwaks)

Seattle

Cheney (Seahwaks)

Provo,UT

I thought the initial plan might benefit by starting up with natural local/rivalries to get interest amongst fans.They have to choose to root for one or the another ,so that starts controversy & more publicity, especially with territorial drafts selecting 1/3 of the the teams roster.I also thought a AAA development league, indepently owned and operated by non USFL investors would be good to always be scouting players.

We place these teams in cities that have promise ,but did not do well attendance wise in USFL,CFL,XFL ,etc( Las Vegas, Arizona,So.California,Portland and possible new strong areas like Provo(Utah & BYU),Fresno( two NFL training camps nearby for 49ers & Raiders), and Colorado Springs ( Denver was USFL strong site , so we go to Colorado Springs(AFA & Col St.) to draw them in to.

I have another plan with 10 teams. 2 each from Cal, Fla, Penn, TX,& Ohio( all the football hotbeds). I've also distributed a sample football ops & player salary cap:

4+ yrs NFL exp - $50K ( 6 players)................$300k
3+ NFL yrs - $40K (5 players) .......................$200K
2+yrs NFL exp-$30K- 4 plyrs.......................$120K
1+yr NFL- $25K- 2 plyrs..................................$50K
2+yrs AFL exp-$25K-2plyrs..............................$50K
NIFL/UIF exp- $15K- 2plyrs..............................$30K
Semi-pro exp-$10K- 3plyrs...............................$30K
overseas import-$7500k-$10K- 2 plyrs................$20K
Kickers/Punter-$10K- 2 plyrs......................$20K
Div I rookie- $25K- 5 plyrs.................................$125K
Div IAA rook-$20K-2plyrs................................$40K
Div II rook- $15K-2plyrs..................................$30K
NAIA rook-$15K-2plyrs..................................$30K
Div III rook-$15K- 1plyr..................................$15K
$1,060,000 Mil

FOOTBALL OPERATIONS SALARY

Head Coach.....................$50K
Off Coord- ......................$40K
Def Coord-.......................$40K
Pos. Coaches- 4 X $15K-$60K
GM-...............................$60K
Scouts.............4X $10K- $40K
Secrty Coaches...............$20K
Secrty GM..................... $20K
Secrty Scouts.................$20K

$350,000K Football Ops
+ $1,060,000 mil Plyrs Coaches
..................................................
$1,410,000 Salary cap



American Football League Attendance 1960-1969
LEAGUE ATTENDANCE
LEAGUE 1960 56 924,654 16,512
LEAGUE 1961 56 996,765 17,799
LEAGUE 1962 56 1,147,203 20,486
LEAGUE 1963 56 1,242,835 22,193
LEAGUE 1964 56 1,439,800 25,711
LEAGUE 1965 56 1,794,528 32,045
LEAGUE 1966 63 2,156,225 34,226
LEAGUE 1967 63 2,356,376 37,403
LEAGUE 1968 70 2,737,961 39,114
LEAGUE 1969 70 2,971,441 42,449
10-YEAR TOTALS 602 17,767,788 29,515







USFL 1983 Attendance

Rank 1983 Attendance Avg. Total
1. Denver Gold 41,736 375,624
2. Tampa Bay Bandits 39,896 359,064
3. New Jersey Generals 35,004 315,036
4. Oakland Invaders 31,211 280,899
5. Arizona Wranglers 25,776 231,984
6. Michigan Panthers 22,250 200,250
7. Birmingham Stallions 22,046 198,414
8. Los Angeles Express 19,002 171,018
9. Philadelphia Stars 18,650 167,850
10. Chicago Blitz 18,133 163,197
11. Washington Federals 13,850 124,650
12. Boston Breakers 12,817 115,353
- League 25,031 2,703,339


Rank 1984 Attendance Avg. Total
1. Jacksonville Bulls 46,730 420,570
2. Tampa Bay Bandits 46,158 415,422
3. New Jersey Generals 37,716 339,444
4. Birmingham Stallions 36,850 331,650
5. Denver Gold 33,953 305,577
6. Michigan Panthers 32,457 292,113
7. New Orleans Breakers 30,557 275,193
8. Philadelphia Stars 28,668 258,012
9. Houston Gamblers 28,152 253,368
10. Memphis Showboats 27,599 248,391
11. Arizona Wranglers 25,568 230,112
12. Oakland Invaders 23,644 212,796
13. Pittsburgh Maulers 22,858 205,722
14. Oklahoma Outlaws 21,038 189,342
15. San Antonio Gunslingers 15,444 138,996
16. Los Angeles Express 15,361 138,249
17. Washington Federals 7,694 69,246
18. Chicago Blitz 7,455 67,095
- League 22,590 3,659,527


Rank 1985 Attendance Avg. Total
1. Tampa Bay Bandits 45,220 406,980
2. Jacksonville Bulls 44,325 398,925
3. New Jersey Generals 41,268 371,412
4. Birmingham Stallions 32,065 288,585
5. Memphis Showboats 30,948 278,532
6. Orlando Renegades 24,136 217,224
7. Portland Breakers 19,919 179,271
8. Houston Gamblers 19,120 172,080
9. Arizona Outlaws 17,881 160,929
10. Oakland Invaders 17,509 157,581
11. Denver Gold 14,446 130,014
12. Baltimore Stars 14,275 128,475
13. San Antonio Gunslingers 11,721 105,489
14. Los Angeles Express 8,415 75,735
- League 24,375 3,071,232





XFL Attendance


Rank Team Avg. Total
1. San Francisco Demons 35,005 175,024
2. NY/NJ Hitmen 28,309 141,545
3. Orlando Rage 25,563 127,817
4. Los Angeles Xtreme 22,679 113,395
5. Las Vegas Outlaws 22,619 113,069
6. Memphis Maniax 20,396 101,981
7. Birmingham Thunderbolts 17,002 85,012
8. Chicago Enforcers 15,710 78,549
- LEAGUE 23,410 936,392



The XFL was designed to fail. They had no big name contracts yet still averaged over 23,000 fans it's first year with a league that was not family oriented and changed it's rules during the season.




CFL Attendance in America

1993 Sacramento Goldminers 16,979
1994 Sacramento Goldminers 14,226
1994 Baltimore Stallions 37,347
1994 Las Vegas Possee 8,953
1994 Shreveport Pirates 17,871
1995 Baltimore Stallions 30,112
1995 Birmingham Barracudas 16,843
1995 Memphis MadDogs 14,550
1995 San Antonio Texans 15,855
1995 Shreveport Pirates 14,359


90 Home Games
1,683,855 Total Home Attendance
18,709 Avg/Gm

Much Thanks to Baltimore Fans for this.


If we keep the Budget within reason yet at a standard that would entice some players to give it a go for another year to two at least, and provide a place where for some players they can play in this league for 5,7, 10 years and make an average living of $25,000-$50,000 per year which in reality is only for half of a year, so this actaully becomes a better than average salary I think we can make this work if we have investors/owners who are commited to seeing this through. We also have plans to sell 2,000 shares per team to fans at $4,000 a piece which would raise $8 million per team . This would be allocated to the League Management Council which would ensure salaries are paid to players for 4 years. The owners would need to be accredited to withstand the losses in running the day to day operations of the club along with the stadium leases for those 4 years. A Television contract is also a must and we believe we can secure this through cable & satellite as well as have games broadcast through the internet.The game would be played on a 110 yd field but under NFL rules so as not to confuse novice football fans or to make it too radical or unlike the most popular American version.We are looking for investors with very successful marketing, television, internet,and sports investment backgrounds to present out business plan to. Feel free to offer any ideas that you think would be helpful.


Cost estimates for creating a pro football league from scratch were all over the field.Before the XFL began sources estimated that it could cost close to $1 billion, or what NBC and TBS would have had to pay per year to keep their NFL packages, to attract enough star players to make a new league palatable to fans.

A Turner source argued that it would "cost a fraction of what NBC and Turner would have been expected to pay" to renew their NFL deals. NBC was obviously never serious about seeing a new league survive who they never would have put such a mockery on the field or have pulled the plug so soon . They were more interested in staying in good graces with the NFL in hopes of securing a new long term TV deal, which it did this past season.Turner hopefully could remain a viable cable option.




Ken Robinson, InterNATIONAL FOOTBALL SCOUTING & Sports Investors International

[Herk]

Div II rook- $15K-2plyrs..................................$30K
NAIA rook-$15K-2plyrs..................................$30K
Div III rook-$15K- 1plyr..................................$15K

are NAIA that much better than d-3 players? I was under the impression that there is huge stipulation in calibur of play in NAIA, some being d-2 calibur and others well below average d3.

[superscoutken]

Div II rook- $15K-2plyrs..................................$30K
NAIA rook-$15K-2plyrs..................................$30K
Div III rook-$15K- 1plyr..................................$15K

are NAIA that much better than d-3 players? I was under the impression that there is huge stipulation in calibur of play in NAIA, some being d-2 calibur and others well below average d3.

Historically I believe there have been more NAIA players in the NFL than Div II players..............As for Div III there is no scholarship money at all and players all walk on..........If you notice the pay would be the same in that plan it's just that there would only be one Div III rookie instead of two........The truth will be told in the tryouts...........The NAIA guys do receive some grant money and it's usually the poor grades that is the reason why players are at that level and not the caliber of play or athletic ability..........What do we do if one team clearly has two Div III players that are better than two NAIA or Div II players?..........well not everything is set in stone so we appreciate your feedback...........The roster limits may only be in effect when it comes to NFL players and not when it comes to rookie college players.............the more we think about it there may have to be some competition for NFL Draft prospects for a new league to be successful and that may be the route we go...........so the salary cap may increase..........we may see how things go the first year and then in the 2nd season allow teams to compete to sign two 1st day NFL draft prsopects each per team...........Thanks for the feedback

[superscoutken]

Me and some collegues have for years kicked around the idea of bringing back the old USFL and implementing the original plan: $20-$50K salary cap, non compete with NFL(hope to eventually have a 32 team minor league feeder system with NFL) like a AAA MLB team has, cable contract with USA or Comcast,play from May until Sept .There needs to be a viable outdoor football option for the fans.If we avg even 10 k(USFL avg 24k) fans/gm @ $20/ticket=$200k per home game X 8 home games =1.6mil. Salary avg 35k x 40 roster=1.4 mil, not to mention concessions & parking +TV( which we feel confident one of the cable networks would do to sell advertising) We just wanted to put out some feelers to see who would be interested in helping to put some of the plan in place.Game would be played on a Canadian sized 110 yd field.




-- Greg Garber

Three days after the judgment, the USFL suspended operations.

The league had recorded losses approaching $200 million and when an appeal failed and a television contract for 1986 failed to materialize, the game was over.

Donald Dixon, the founder, had seen it coming. In May 1982, he had introduced the league and outlined its modest goals. Teams would have only two high-priced players, he said, and limit the rest of the payroll to $1.7 million. A typical team budget would be around $4.5 million and the television contract with ABC and ESPN would provide nearly half of that.

A nice little theory, eh?

In late 1982, only months after he had launched the enterprise, Dixon found himself at a league meeting in Washington. He knew the key to survival was keeping salaries in line and had figured out a way, through negotiations with the NFL player's union, to legally institute a salary cap.

"I brought that up," Dixon said. "One of our owners, whose name I shall never mention -- I'll never know if he was kidding -- says 'A union? What, are you some kind of communist?'

"Otherwise, I knew they would have ultimately spent themselves into oblivion -- which they did. I decided I'd better get out. I took an offer that was pending for the rights I had to a team, the team that became the Houston Gamblers."

Dixon believes if teams had followed the original modest philosophy and built their franchises slowly, the league would have succeeded.

"They let their costs get out of control," Dixon said. "Even multi-millionaires don't like to lose money."

Few disagree.

"They started out right," said Giants head coach Jim Fassel, "But egos got in the way."

Said Irv Eatman, the Stars offensive lineman, "If the entire league had been run like our franchise, we'd still be in existence. We'd be part of the NFL today."

The plan, according to the Stars' Peterson, was to "crawl before we walk, walk before we run. We had some guys, like Donald Trump, that were too anxious, wanted to go to fast."

"The league was so close to going over the top," said Charlie Steiner. "That's why people remember it so fondly and why there's a bitter sadness about the way it ended. It shouldn't have ended."

[Shootmaster_44]

I've also distributed a sample football ops & player salary cap:

4+ yrs NFL exp - $50K ( 6 players)................$300k
3+ NFL yrs - $40K (5 players) .......................$200K
2+yrs NFL exp-$30K- 4 plyrs.......................$120K
1+yr NFL- $25K- 2 plyrs..................................$50K
2+yrs AFL exp-$25K-2plyrs..............................$50K
NIFL/UIF exp- $15K- 2plyrs..............................$30K
Semi-pro exp-$10K- 3plyrs...............................$30K
overseas import-$7500k-$10K- 2 plyrs................$20K
Kickers/Punter-$10K- 2 plyrs......................$20K
Div I rookie- $25K- 5 plyrs.................................$125K
Div IAA rook-$20K-2plyrs................................$40K
Div II rook- $15K-2plyrs..................................$30K
NAIA rook-$15K-2plyrs..................................$30K
Div III rook-$15K- 1plyr..................................$15K
$1,060,000 Mil


Ok just to play devils advocate, two questions the first is let's say somebody plays in your league and has two years in the AFL and a year in the NFL, does he earn $50,000? What about players like a Damon Allen who have spent their entire careers in the CFL? Would they earn $25,000 as they are a Division I rookie or would they earn more due to their many years experience? What about someone who's entire career consisted of a season in the XFL after college? Do they get the same as a Division I rookie or do they earn more?

[superscoutken]

I've also distributed a sample football ops & player salary cap:

4+ yrs NFL exp - $50K ( 6 players)................$300k
3+ NFL yrs - $40K (5 players) .......................$200K
2+yrs NFL exp-$30K- 4 plyrs.......................$120K
1+yr NFL- $25K- 2 plyrs..................................$50K
2+yrs AFL exp-$25K-2plyrs..............................$50K
NIFL/UIF exp- $15K- 2plyrs..............................$30K
Semi-pro exp-$10K- 3plyrs...............................$30K
overseas import-$7500k-$10K- 2 plyrs................$20K
Kickers/Punter-$10K- 2 plyrs......................$20K
Div I rookie- $25K- 5 plyrs.................................$125K
Div IAA rook-$20K-2plyrs................................$40K
Div II rook- $15K-2plyrs..................................$30K
NAIA rook-$15K-2plyrs..................................$30K
Div III rook-$15K- 1plyr..................................$15K
$1,060,000 Mil


Ok just to play devils advocate, two questions the first is let's say somebody plays in your league and has two years in the AFL and a year in the NFL, does he earn $50,000? What about players like a Damon Allen who have spent their entire careers in the CFL? Would they earn $25,000 as they are a Division I rookie or would they earn more due to their many years experience? What about someone who's entire career consisted of a season in the XFL after college? Do they get the same as a Division I rookie or do they earn more?

It's probably not going to go down like that now........Like I said it's in the very early development stage..........The salary avg would be about the same but it probably wont be broken down into that many different classes......But if it were going to be as this example proposes than a player such as Damon Allen would not be a rookie..........A rookie as it pertains to a Pro League........Right out of college ........Damon is of course very far , very ,very far from being a rookie..........I highly doubt we would have any player who's career consisted of a season in the XFL......there is no way we would have caliber players that wouldnt have played in that long...........Good examples of the types of FA players we would go after who were recently NFL cuts are: (Again these are examples and in no way implies that we are specifically interested in these players).........Recent Jaguars cuts: CB Marcell Almond, WR Kahlil Hill, OL Mike Compton, WR Troy Edwards,Falcons cuts: OG Martin Bibla, P Toby Gowin, CB Christian Morton, Packers Cuts: LB Hannibal Navies, OG Matt O'Dwyer,Panthers cuts: QB Rod Rutherford, WR Taylor Stubblefield..........These are the types of veteran & rookie FA's we would be interested in if they did not sign with another NFL team........same thing as the previous USFL, but we would stick to the plan of only signing two NAME players.............whether we compete with the NFL for those players or sign an NFL salary cut caualty as those name players I cannot tell you that part of the plan............... Oh and that first question about a player with 2 AFL & 1 NFL year experience?...........the player would have to have 4 years NFL experience to get the $50,000/yr in that example.....because he has 2 AFL years would have given him a negotiable contract somewhere between $25K-$50K.

[JB]

Superscoutken,
I like your posting of the attendance figures for the old AFL, USFL and XFL. Especially the more recent numbers of the XFL since more people can relate to those years. I think the attendance figures are a strong argument in favor of a new league and as a basic platform on how to develop the league over several years (10 year plan?) and not some overnight gung-ho plan. When you get a website up and running, be sure to include those old attendance figures and make them readily available. I also think it would be very smart to post TV Viewership numbers for those years and even more important to include current tv numbers for Hockey, Golf, Tennis, Womens Basketball and whatever sports are televised consistantly even though the numbers are low or lower than a new footbal league would easily surpass. I have heard the XFL tv numbers easily beat golf, hockey, tennis and that the WBA numbers have never come close to XFL numbers.

What about the idea of drafting players right out of high school? I'm not talking about guys that have an opportunity (scholarship) to play college ball (although it SHOULD be their choice whether or not they want to go straight to pro ball or not, the NBA does it) but about guys that can actually play but don't get the chance in high school and/or college because of poor grades or because of dropping out of school (high school or college) their sophmore, junior or senior year. How many inner city kids that are actually great athletes drop out and spend their idle time hanging around a street corner or city park and end up getting into trouble when they could really be making a living doing something they like? How many Deon Sanders, Bo Jacksons and Michael Vicks fall through the cracks and never get that chance? The NFL and College would have a sh*t-fit but who cares, its your league.

Just a few thoughts. Not trying to tell you how to run your league, just my opinions/suggestions.

Best regards.
JB

[superscoutken]

Superscoutken,
I like your posting of the attendance figures for the old AFL, USFL and XFL. Especially the more recent numbers of the XFL since more people can relate to those years. I think the attendance figures are a strong argument in favor of a new league and as a basic platform on how to develop the league over several years (10 year plan?) and not some overnight gung-ho plan. When you get a website up and running, be sure to include those old attendance figures and make them readily available. I also think it would be very smart to post TV Viewership numbers for those years and even more important to include current tv numbers for Hockey, Golf, Tennis, Womens Basketball and whatever sports are televised consistantly even though the numbers are low or lower than a new footbal league would easily surpass. I have heard the XFL tv numbers easily beat golf, hockey, tennis and that the WBA numbers have never come close to XFL numbers.

What about the idea of drafting players right out of high school? I'm not talking about guys that have an opportunity (scholarship) to play college ball (although it SHOULD be their choice whether or not they want to go straight to pro ball or not, the NBA does it) but about guys that can actually play but don't get the chance in high school and/or college because of poor grades or because of dropping out of school (high school or college) their sophmore, junior or senior year. How many inner city kids that are actually great athletes drop out and spend their idle time hanging around a street corner or city park and end up getting into trouble when they could really be making a living doing something they like? How many Deon Sanders and Bo Jacksons fall through the cracks and never get that chance? The NFL and College would have a sh*t-fit but who cares, its your league.

Just a few thoughts. Not trying to tell you how to run your league, just my opinions/suggestions.

Best regards.
JB

Hey JB. Good to hear there are some football fans out there that would like to see some quality outdoor football year round.It takes alot of digging to get these accurate numbers to figure just how much these owners really did lose and if this would be a viable money making venture down the road. All signs seem positive so far.It just takes commitment from ownership groups who could stand to have a few million dollars less per year from their $100 million plus empire and a solid business plan so they can begin to turn a profit after year five..Nothing that can just be started up on a whim.I'm constantly alternately my plan but have a good core base down right now,but think the plan is about a year or two away from presentation.Maybe sooner depending on the NFL Europe status but probably no longer than 3 years away.I thought the attendance numbers would be an eye opener for some nay sayers out there.As for the drafting of non scholarship high school players.Well I see your point but that is a tough call.A pro league really needs to be in good with the colleges and I have to say that I am a proponent of students staying in school and not even be allowed to leave even 1 yr early but that's an argument that can be debated another time because I know there are valid reasons for both sides.A college degree will pay dividends for many years after a pro football career and an injury in pro ball can cut short a career just like that and the money is not guaranteed so I think if players need to get their grades up at JC they should do that.

[JB]

One more thought Superscoutken, have you ever heard of brain typing? Their webs