Written by Chad Wilson
When the USFL first started in 1983, many saw it as an NFL copycat league that would die before it actually lived. David Dixon conceived the idea nearly 20 years before the first official game in 1965. Dixon was instrumental in the development of the Superdome and bringing in the then expansion team, the New Orleans Saints into the NFL. His vision was to have an American professional league during the Summer and Spring months. This way fans can enjoy professional football all year long, a slam-dunk in his mind.
The league built legitimacy by signing their first of three Heisman trophy winners, Hershel Walker in 1983. Doug Flutie and Mike Rozier followed over the next two years. Other notable NFL players that started their careers in the USFL were the great Reggie White, Steve Young and Jim Kelly.
Mr. Donald Trump came in as the owner of the New Jersey Generals. Trump was at the top of his game in the real estate world. He was already well known for being a cut-throat, hard-nosed businessman.
Trump convinced other team owners to move the USFL season from the spring to the fall in the beginning of the 1986 to compete directly with the NFL. Most people, including myself think this was the “fall” of the USFL.
The strongest proponents of playing in the fall were Chicago owner Eddie Einhorn and of course Republican Presidential candidate, Donald Trump. They argued that if the USFL moved to the fall, it would most likely force a merger with the NFL in which the older league would have to admit some USFL teams. They also argued that if a merger did occur, the surviving teams’ original investment would more than double.
Trump and the rest of the USFL team owners filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, claiming it had established a monopoly with respect to television broadcasting rights.
In the lawsuit, the USFL claimed that the NFL had forced the hands of ABC, CBS, and NBC into not televising USFL games. Secondly, the USFL claimed that the NFL had a plan to ruin the USFL, known as the “Porter Presentation.” This plan was aimed at ruining the Invaders and Generals. The damages the USFL sought would have accumulated at $1.7 billion under the antitrust law. The USFL’s goal was not to just ruin the NFL financially, but also void the NFL’s contracts with ABC, CBS, and NBC.
In court, the USFL’s evidence included memos between NFL executives, the “Porter Presentation,” and even witnesses such as Oakland Raiders owner, Al Davis. However, it all proved to be futile. Although the jury found the NFL to be a monopoly, the jury rejected the USFL’s other claims. The jury claimed that the USFL had changed its strategy, with the end goal being a merger with the NFL. It is now known that Trump simply wanted a merger with the NFL, knowing that the majority of the USFL teams would be eliminated. Arguably the most important fact against the USFL is that the evidence showed that the NFL never attempted to force the USFL off television.
The jury concluded, that while the NFL’s monopolization did play a role in the USFL’s problems, it was primarily the USFL’s poor management that was the root cause of it all. The jury awarded nominal damages to the tune of one dollar. Under the antitrust laws, that one dollar was tripled to three.
Trump and the USFL had gambled everything on the lawsuit, and the days following the jury’s decision, showed it. The USFL suspended the 1986 season, all players were immediately allowed to sign with NFL teams, and the league was now $160 million in debt.
The USFL would shut its doors permanently in 1987.
The history of football is filled with leagues that have risen and fell, though not many had the resources of the USFL. No league since the USFL’s inception has come close to challenging the NFL. However, the poor mismanagement of the USFL, which was primarily led by Donald Trump, is what ultimately did this league in.
