United States Football League The United States Football League ( USFL ) was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987 . It played a spring / summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn / winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased . The USFL was conceived in 1965 by New Orleans , Louisiana , businessman David Dixon , who saw a market for a football league which would play while the established National Football League was in its off - season . Dixon had been a key player in the expansion of the NFL into New Orleans ; the New Orleans Saints began play in 1967 . The USFL had notable successes : three consecutive Heisman Award winners : Georgia running back Herschel Walker and Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie signed with the New Jersey Generals and Nebraska running back Mike Rozier signed with the Pittsburgh Maulers out of college . Additionally , future Pro Football Hall of Fame members defensive end Reggie White of the University of Tennessee and quarterbacks Jim Kelly of the University of Miami and Steve Young of Brigham Young University , began their professional careers with the USFL ' s Memphis Showboats , Houston Gamblers , and Los Angeles Express , respectively . Some veterans , such as quarterbacks Chuck Fusina and Cliff Stoudt , who had extremely limited success in the NFL , had successful careers in the USFL . Former Cincinnati Bengals offensive line man Dave Lapham notably signed an unusual personal services contract ( rather than a traditional players ' contract ) with billionaire New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump . However , after its inaugural season , the United States Football League was plagued with franchise instability . A number of franchises either relocated or merged with others . However , there were franchises in several cities without NFL teams which would later receive them , such as Jacksonville , Florida . The Michigan Panthers were the first USFL champions . The Philadelphia Stars won the second USFL championship and , after relocating to Baltimore , Maryland , won the final USFL championship as the Baltimore Stars . Ultimately , the USFL lost over $ 163 million . A 1986 anti - trust suit filed against the National Football League was decided that the NFL was found to have violated anti - monopoly laws , but the USFL won a judgment of just $ 1 , which , under anti - trust laws , was tripled to $ 3 . History . Organization . The USFL was the brainchild of David Dixon , a New Orleans antiques dealer , who had been instrumental in bringing the New Orleans Saints to town . In 1965 , he envisioned football as a possible spring and summer sport . Over the next 15 years , he studied the last two challengers to the NFL ' s dominance of pro football — the AFL and the World Football League . In 1980 , he commissioned a study by Frank Magid Associates that found promising results for a spring and summer football league . He ' d also formed a blueprint for the prospective league ' s operations , which included early television exposure , heavy promotion in home markets , and owners willing to absorb years of losses — which he felt would be inevitable until the league found its feet . He also assembled a list of prospective franchises located in markets attractive to a potential television partner . With respected college and NFL coach John Ralston as the first employee , Dixon signed up 12 cities — nine where there already were NFL teams and three where there were not . They quickly reached an over - the - air television deal with ABC Sports and a cable deal with then - fledgling ESPN . The deals yielded roughly $ 13 million in 1983 and $ 16 million in 1984 , including $ 9 million per year from ABC . ABC had options for the 1985 season at $ 14 million and 1986 at $ 18 million . After almost two years of preparation , Dixon formally announced the USFL ' s formation at the 21 Club in New York City on May 11 , 1982 , to begin play in 1983 . ESPN president Chet Simmons was named the league ' s first commissioner . 1983 Atlantic Division Team W L T PCT . Philadelphia Stars 15 3 0 . 833 Boston Breakers 11 7 0 . 611 New Jersey Generals 6 12 0 . 333 Washington Federals 4 14 0 . 222 Central Division Michigan Panthers 12 6 0 . 667 Chicago Blitz 12 6 0 . 667 Tampa Bay Bandits 11 7 0 . 611 Birmingham Stallions 9 9 0 . 500 Pacific Division Oakland Invaders 9 9 0 . 500 Los Angeles Express 8 10 0 . 444 Denver Gold 7 11 0 . 389 Arizona Wranglers 4 14 0 . 222 Division Playoffs : Philadelphia 44 , Chicago 38 ( OT ) | Michigan 37 , Oakland 21 Championship game : Michigan 24 , Philadelphia 22 Play begins . Like almost all startup pro football leagues , the USFL had some off - the - field factors that prevented the league from starting out with their preferred membership . The problems started when the original owner of the Los Angeles franchise , Alex Spanos , pulled out and instead became a minority owner of the NFL ' s San Diego Chargers . Jim Joseph , a real estate developer who had lost out to friend Tad Taube for the USFL ' s San Francisco Bay area franchise , had thought he would be content to be a part - owner of the Oakland Invaders . When the potentially more lucrative Los Angeles franchise became available , Joseph snapped up the rights to the area . The owners of the USFL ' s San Diego franchise , cable television moguls Bill Daniels and Alan Harmon , were denied a lease for Jack Murphy Stadium — in part due to pressure from the Chargers ( Major League Baseball ' s Padres held the lease to the stadium at the time ) . Los Angeles was seen as critical to the league ' s success , and Dixon and Simmons felt that two cable moguls would be better suited to head the league ' s efforts there . Joseph was forced to move his operation to Phoenix , Arizona , where it became the Arizona Wranglers . Daniels and Harmon ' s team became the Los Angeles Express . The League ' s Boston franchise also had stadium problems . The Boston ownership group wanted to play in Harvard Stadium , but were unable to close a deal with the university . Next , they tried to organize a lease with Sullivan Stadium , the home of the New England Patriots . They were again unsuccessful . Finally they were able to negotiate a lease to play at tiny ( 21 , 000 seat ) Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University , with the hope of selling out every game and managing to hold on until a lease with a larger stadium became available . Once play actually started , the league experienced the same kind of franchise instability , relocation , and closure that most leagues competing with the NFL have seen . It certainly can be argued by proponents that most teams going over budget starting in the first year and having overly optimistic attendance and viewership projections accelerated franchise churn . After the 1985 season . Some franchises folded before or after a season ' s play , and others moved and / or merged . However , unlike the WFL and other leagues that have competed against the NFL , no USFL team actually folded " during " a season ' s play . This was because , with the notable exception of San Antonio , all of the league ' s teams were fairly well capitalized from the start , as Dixon had anticipated the league would have to absorb years of red ink before coming into its own . By comparison , most of the WFL ' s teams appeared to be severely undercapitalized . Chicago , Los Angeles , and San Antonio did come close to folding in midseason , but league intervention helped these teams make it through the season . Competition vs . NFL . The Dixon Plan vs . building a league of stars . At first the USFL competed with the older , more established National Football League by following the Dixon plan and trying not to compete directly with it , primarily by playing its games on a March – June schedule but also having slightly different rules , most notably : Although the Dixon plan called for a $ 1 . 8 million salary cap in anticipation of slow growth , several teams exceeded it in the pursuit of stars . Ironically , the league ' s biggest splash — the signing of Walker — has been considered in hindsight to have foreshadowed the league ' s demise . Like the NFL , the USFL barred underclassmen from signing . However , league officials were certain that this rule would never stand up in court , so they allowed Walker to sign with the New Jersey Generals . More importantly , Walker signed a three - year contract valued at $ 4 . 2 million with a $ 1 million signing bonus . Due to the USFL ' s salary cap rules , this was a personal - services contract with Generals owner J . Walter Duncan , and not a standard player contract . Nonetheless , the other owners did not raise any objections , knowing how important Walker was to the league . In fact , much of the league ' s credibility with fans as being a serious challenger to the establishment NFL arose from its willingness to sign a few marquee talent such as high profile college stars like Walker , Craig James , Anthony Carter and Kelvin Bryant as well as some familiar NFL vets like Chuck Fusina and members of the NFL vet laden Chicago Blitz , like Greg Landry . The league also made a serious run at some other stars , such as Eric Dickerson . No one can dispute that in particular , the signing of Walker and several other Heisman Trophy winners gave the league much - needed credibility , but the Dixon plan did not call for as much spending on talent as the league did in 1983 . This desire to win and be seen as NFL caliber eventually led to almost all of the teams jettisoning Dixon ' s plan , with many of them spending large amounts of money to put competitive teams on the field . For instance , the Michigan Panthers reportedly lost $ 6 million — three times what Dixon suggested a team could afford to lose in the first season — even as they became the league ' s first champions . Dixon urged the members of the league to reduce spending . Rather than backing off spending and dispersing some of the larger contracts to alleviate the problem , the league sought other options to take on revenue to cover increased costs , magnifying the problem . The league added six more teams in 1984 rather than the four initially envisioned by Dixon , to pocket two more expansion fees . The league was so desperate for capital that it accepted an application from San Antonio , despite a study that advised in no uncertain terms that San Antonio could not support a USFL team . A frustrated Dixon sold his stake and got out . With the new wave of teams , college stars like Marcus Dupree , Mike Rozier , Reggie White , Jim Kelly , Steve Young and other young stars of the day signed high dollar contracts to play for USFL teams in 1984 , as did high profile NFL stars like Doug Williams , Brian Sipe , Joe Cribbs , and Gary Barbaro . Dan Marino was the first player drafted by a USFL team , but never signed . The Los Angeles Express picked him with the 1st overall pick . Jerry Rice was also selected first overall pick in the 1985 Draft , by the Birmingham Stallions , but never played a game for them . In addition to producing many NFL players , the USFL also produced at least three future World Champion professional wrestlers : Lex Luger & Ron Simmons . Spring schedule vs . fall schedule . In 1984 , the league began discussing the possibility of competing head - to - head with the NFL by playing its games in the fall beginning in 1986 . The idea was to force a merger in which the NFL would be forced to admit some USFL teams . Despite the protests of many of the league ' s " old guard , " who wanted to stay with the original plan of playing football in the spring months , the voices of Chicago owner Eddie Einhorn and Generals owner Donald Trump and others would eventually prevail . Trump sold a majority of the other owners on the gamble that if a merger did occur , their teams would instantly be worth the $ 70 million or so NFL franchises were worth at that time - - - tripling , quadrupling , or more their cash investment . On October 18 , 1984 , the league ' s owners voted to go along with Einhorn and Trump ' s idea and begin playing a fall season in 1986 . The spring advocates had lost and the fall advocates would accept nothing less than victory vs . the NFL , either by forcing a merger or winning a sizeable settlement and securing a TV network for fall broadcasts . Spring football had been replaced with an incredibly risky gamble for a huge return . This vote would permanently destroy the viability of the league by taking it out of several viable large markets . It would directly lead to the end of USFL play in 4 cities - - - Pittsburgh , Philadelphia , New Orleans and Detroit - - - and the dramatic drop in attendance in 2 others - - - Houston and Denver - - - and the USFL not coming to Miami . Additionally , one of the chief advocates of the move to the fall was Einhorn . With an expectation of fall play in 1986 , Einhorn decided not to field a team for the final lame duck spring 1985 season - - - effectively ending USFL play in Chicago , a 7th USFL city . As a direct result of this decision , the Pittsburgh Maulers folded rather than compete with the Steelers , the sale of the struggling Washington Federals to the Miami ownership group collapsed , the well supported Philadelphia Stars and the New Orleans Breakers had to relocate , and the 1983 champion Michigan Panthers surprised the commissioner with an announcement that they would not be playing in Michigan for the 1985 season . ( The Panthers management informed the league at the meeting that they had negotiated a conditional merger with Tad Taube ' s Oakland Invaders depending on the outcome of the vote . ) ABC offered the USFL a 4 year , $ 175 million TV deal to play in the spring in 1986 . ESPN offered $ 70M over 3 years . Following all the mergers and shutdowns , there just were not enough spring football advocates left in the league to accept those contracts . The owners in the league walked away from what averaged out to $ 67 million per year starting in 1986 to pursue their big picture - - - merger with the NFL . After the 1985 season , more plans were announced to accommodate the fall schedule , pool financial resources and avoid costly head - to - head competition with NFL teams . Two mergers were announced . The Denver Gold merged with the Jacksonville Bulls ( to play in Jacksonville ) . Trump bought the assets of the Houston Gamblers for an undisclosed amount and merged them with the New Jersey Generals ( to play in New Jersey ) . In spite of all of these changes , the USFL would never play a fall game . " USFL v . NFL " lawsuit . In another effort to keep themselves afloat while at the same time attacking the more established National Football League , the USFL filed an antitrust lawsuit against the older league , claiming it had established a monopoly with respect to television broadcasting rights , and in some cases , to access of stadium venues . The USFL claimed that the NFL had bullied ABC , CBS and NBC into not televising USFL games in the fall . It also claimed that the NFL had a specific plan to eliminate the USFL , the " Porter Presentation . " In particular , the USFL claimed the NFL conspired to ruin the Invaders and Generals . The USFL sought damages of $ 567 million , which would have been tripled to $ 1 . 7 billion under antitrust law . It hoped to void the NFL ' s contracts with the three major networks . The USFL proposed two remedies : either force the NFL to negotiate new television contracts with only two networks , or force the NFL to split into two competing 14 - team leagues , each limited to a contract with one major network . Each NFL franchise was named as a co - defendant , with the exception of the then - Los Angeles Raiders ; Raiders owner Al Davis was a major witness for the USFL . Howard Cosell was also a key witness for the USFL . The case went to trial in the spring of 1986 and lasted 42 days . On July 29 , a six - person jury handed down a verdict that , while technically a victory for the USFL , in fact devastated the league . The jury declared the NFL a " duly adjudicated illegal monopoly , " and found that the NFL had willfully acquired and maintained monopoly status through predatory tactics . However , it rejected the USFL ' s other claims . The jury found that the USFL had changed its strategy to a more risky goal of merger with the NFL . Furthermore , the switch to a fall schedule caused the loss of several major markets ( Philadelphia , Denver , Detroit , Miami , the San Francisco Bay area ) . It has been established that Donald Trump , owner of the Generals , specifically wanted to force a merger knowing that the majority of teams would be eliminated . Most importantly , the jury found that the NFL did not attempt to force the USFL off television . In essence , the jury felt that while the USFL was harmed by the NFL ' s de facto monopolization of pro football in the United States , most of its problems were due to its own mismanagement . It awarded the USFL only one dollar in nominal damages , which was tripled under antitrust law to three dollars . It later emerged that the jury incorrectly assumed that the judge could increase the award . The verdict was a classic Pyrrhic victory . The USFL had essentially staked its future on the outcome of the suit , and considered the television - related claims to be the heart of its case . Almost immediately upon announcement of the verdict , it announced it was suspending operations for the 1986 season , with the intent of returning in 1987 . Players signed to contracts were free to sign with NFL ( or other professional teams ) immediately . Indeed , the NFL had held a draft in 1984 for teams to acquire the rights to USFL players , in the event of the league ( or teams in the league ) folding . However , it is unlikely the USFL would have been able to put together a viable product in any case . Many of its players had signed contracts with NFL teams after the 1985 season , and the league was some $ 160 million in debt . With nearly all of its players under contract to the NFL and Canadian Football League , Usher announced the league would stay shuttered in 1987 as well . The USFL appealed the award , but it was rejected by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1988 . This decision ended any chance of the USFL returning to the field , and the league formally dissolved shortly afterward . However , due to a provision of antitrust law which allows an " injured " party in an antitrust action to recover its attorney fees and costs of litigation , the USFL was awarded over $ 5 . 5 million in attorney fees and over $ 62 , 000 in court costs . That award was appealed by the NFL ; it was affirmed on appeal and ultimately allowed to stand by the U . S . Supreme Court in 1990 , long after the USFL had ceased operations . The USFL finally received a check for $ 3 . 76 in damages in 1990 , the additional 76¢ representing interest earned while litigation had continued . Notably , that check has never been cashed . Aftermath . It is widely acknowledged that the USFL had a dramatic impact on the National Football League both on the field and off . Almost all of the USFL ' s on - field innovations were eventually adopted by the older league , and a multitude of star players in the USFL would go on to very successful careers in the NFL . The NFL would also eventually have franchises in some of the markets where the USFL proved fertile or renewed interest in the game , including Arizona ( the St . Louis Cardinals moving there in 1988 ) , Jacksonville ( the Jaguars being awarded as an expansion franchise for the 1995 season ) , Tennessee ( the Houston Oilers , while waiting for their Nashville stadium to be completed , commuted to Memphis for home games ) , and Baltimore ( the Ravens establishing themselves in 1996 , effectively taking the entire Cleveland Browns organization except the name and history ) . It was no coincidence that most of these markets were in the Sun Belt — a region where the USFL was particularly a hit . Tampa Bay , Jacksonville , Birmingham and Memphis , none of whom had Major League Baseball teams at the time to compete against for the spring sports dollar ( Tampa Bay would not get the Devil Rays until 1998 ) , were among the league ' s leaders in attendance . Along with Philadelphia / Baltimore ( the league ' s most successful team ) and New Jersey ( with its biggest star , Walker ) , these teams at least had the potential to be viable ventures had the USFL been better run . The last player of the USFL on an NFL roster was Philadelphia Stars punter Sean Landeta , who was signed in late 1986 by the New York Giants . He officially announced his retirement on March 6 , 2008 , the 25th anniversary of the first USFL game . ( He last played in 2006 but he did not officially retire during the 2007 season . ) The last non - kicker to retire was quarterback Doug Flutie , who played until 2005 . In popular culture . The USFL still has a presence in movies , commercials , and television shows today . Footage of the games are often shown to represent football . Using NFL footage costs a fee . Since the USFL no longer exists , it ' s easier to show archive video . Gary Cohen of Triple Threat TV is the exclusive proprietor of all USFL stock footage . In the " SpongeBob SquarePants " episode " Band Geeks , " there is footage of the USFL ' s Liberty Bowl game ( Memphis Showboats vs . Tampa Bay Bandits ) used for the " Bubble Bowl " background in some scenes of the band ' s version of " Sweet Victory . " USFL footage is used in a Scientology . com commercial where there is a short clip of Anthony Carter scoring a touchdown for the Michigan Panthers . As part of the ESPN film project " 30 for 30 " , filmmaker Mike Tollin produced a documentary called " Small Potatoes : Who Killed The USFL ? " It aired October 20 , 2009 . As part of the project , sister station ESPN Classic aired the 1984 and 1985 USFL championship games in their entirety on the same day , leading up to the movie . Notable people and achievements . USFL alumni in the Pro Football Hall of Fame . As of August 2010 , there are six USFL alumni who are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame : Teams . In 1986 . Prior to the jury award in " USFL v . NFL " , the league had planned to go forward with a 1986 season comprising eight teams , divided into an " Independence Division " and a " Liberty Division " : Tampa Bay owner John Bassett had initially declared that they would not participate in the Fall in 1986 , but the franchise was sold by an ailing Bassett to Lee Scarfone , on July 30 , 1985 , and the Bandits then agreed to participate in the Fall 1986 schedule . . Due to the legal aftermath pertaining to the USFL , this divisional format , and the whole 1986 season for that matter , would never come to fruition . Season by season . " W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , PCT = Winning Percentage , PF = Points For , PA = Points Against " " = Division Champion , = Wild Card " 1983 . < div style = > " Home team in capitals " 1984 . Conference Semifinals Conference Championships USFL Championship Game ( at Tampa , Florida ) 1985 . " Home team in capitals " Championship games . The country music group , Alabama , performed the national anthem prior to the 1984 Championship Game . One of the members wore a jacket of the Birmingham Stallions .