New York Yankees ( 1940 AFL ) The New York Yankees of the third American Football League was the third professional American football team competing under that name . It is unrelated to the Yankees of the first AFL ( and the National Football League ) , the Yankees of the second AFL , and the ( later ) Yankees of the All America Football Conference . The Yankees played their home games in Yankee Stadium and Downing Stadium in New York , New York . After finishing fourth in the AFL ’ s season of 1940 , the Yankees were sold to agent and promoter Douglas Hertz . By the summer of 1941 , the team ’ s AFL franchise was revoked in light of a scandal involving the new owner , and a group headed by William Cox assumed control of the team by the beginning of the new season . The newly - renamed New York Americans were competitive , finishing one - half game behind league champions Columbus Bullies . While the Americans were making plans for a 1942 AFL season , the league suspended operations in the wake of the entry of the United States into World War II , and the Americans followed suit . The league did not return to business after the end of the war , and neither did the New York Americans . 1940 New York Yankees . The Yankees were one of three charter members of the third AFL ( along with the Boston Bears and Buffalo Indians ) that were formed with the expressed purpose of competing in a major professional football league to compete with the established National Football League . The new league became official after the Cincinnati Bengals , Columbus Bullies and a newly minted Milwaukee Chiefs defected from the American Professional Football Association . The roster for the 1940 season had five players who competed in the NFL in 1939 . Head coach Jack McBride was also the coach of the New York Yankees of the second American Football League ( 1936 - 1937 ) . 1941 New York Americans . In January 1941 , the Yankees were sold to agent and promoter Douglas Hertz . After questions arose about the finances of the new owner arose , the AFL revoked the franchise and transferred ownership to a syndicate headed by William Cox ( later the owner of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team ) in August . Shortly afterward , the team ’ s name was changed to the New York Americans . Unlike the 1940 Yankees , the Americans had a flair for publicity , having signed college star running back John Kimbrough for $ 37 , 500 on a personal services contract that required personal appearances on behalf of the team . Well into the season , the Americans announced the signing of Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon ( who had begun a career in broadcasting University of Michigan football games ) for the game between the Americans and league leader Columbus . Harmon threw two interception s while Hutchinson was similarly ineffective . In the second half , the New York fans shouted “ We want < nowiki > [ Bill ] < / nowiki > Hutchinson , ” the Americans ’ regular rusher . The game ended in a 0 - 0 tie . A loss to the Milwaukee Chiefs the following week ( the last game of the season ) cost the Americans the AFL championship . 1941 New York Yankees . The 1941 New York Yankees , the fourth New York professional football team with the name , was a team formed and owned by Douglas Hertz after the third American Football League revoked his ownership of a franchise that was later renamed the New York Americans in August 1941 . Initially an independent team , the Yankees joined the American Association in October to replace the Providence Steamroller , which dropped out of the league after only two games . Having four members of the 1940 Yankees , the 1941 edition lost all six of its American Association games ( as a traveling team ) … and folded soon afterward . Note : won - lost record includes American Association league games only