USFL '86: The Season That Never Was

Sunday, January 7, 2018

'83 Chronology-A Quinn Martin Production?

Event Date: March 13th, 1983

Event Description: Martin Seeks Franchise

Source: United Press International

Television producer Quinn Martin and the United States Football League have engaged in preliminary negotiations aimed at bringing a franchise of the new league to San Diego.

USFL commissioner Chet Simmons Friday confirmed that Martin had contacted the league about obtaining a franchise, but said no real steps had been taken to grant him one.

“Quinn has been talking to us,” Simmons said. “We hadn't talked to him for a while, then he surfaced again, and he might have had someone else along with him.”

San Diego was to have had a USFL franchise this season, but the owners had trouble reserving dates at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, home of the NFL San Diego Chargers. The franchise was shifted to Los Angeles and became the Los Angeles Express before the season started.

Simmons he was approached last Sunday in Los Angeles by another group of investors anxious to obtain a USFL franchise in San Diego. “We told them we would sit down and talk to them about a team for next season,” Simmons said.


Deputy San Diego City Manager John Lockwood said negotiations between the city and an unidentified party interested in playing USFL games at Jack Murphy Stadium had taken place, but were “of a preliminary nature.”

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