'84 Chronology-May Owners Meeting

Event Date: May 15-17th, 1984

Internal Memo: United States Football League Owners Meeting

Re: Expansion, Mergers and Relocation

The owners considered the following; 

1. A proposal to grant an expansion franchise to league founder David Dixon. 

2. A proposal to sell a Florida expansion franchise to either Miami or Orlando.

3. A proposal to sell a Oklahoma expansion franchise to J. Walter Duncan.

4. A proposal to sell a San Antonio franchise to Red McCombs.

5. A proposal to sell a San Antonio franchise to Clinton Manges.

6. A proposal to sell the rights to the Washington Federals franchise to real estate developer Woody Weiser.

7. A proposal from New Jersey Generals owner Donald J. Trump to move to the fall for the 1985 season.

8. A proposal from a group of prospective owners led by Eddie Einhorn to take control of the Chicago Blitz franchise and then move them into involuntary bankruptcy.

9. A proposal from the Einhorn group to be granted a new franchise for the city of Chicago which would begin play in 1986.

 10. A recommendation from the Executive Committee for the league  to take control of the Chicago franchise for one year.

11. A recommendation from the Relocation Committee to consider a potential transfer of the Washington Federals franchise for next season.

12. A recommendation from the league finance committee calling for a strict adherence to the so-called Dixon Salary Cap* for the 1985 season and beyond. 

The owners agreed to the following;

A. The owners rejected the proposal from Donald J. Trump to move to the fall in 1985 citing a limited time frame to make the move.

B. The owners agreed to hire the McKinsey & Company & Yankelovich, Skelly & White Inc. to complete a study the demographics of switching to a fall schedule. The final report is to be presented to the Long-Range Planning Committee in August.

C. The owners approved an expansion franchise for league founder David Dixon, at a date to be determined, but rejected his bid for the Chicago franchise. 

D. The owners agreed to table all expansion franchise charters until after the submission of the McKinsey Report.

E. The owners agreed to freeze the Chicago and Washington franchises until the completion of a league audit.

F. The owners agreed to a proposal from Philadelphia Stars owner Myles Tanenbaum calling for a sixteen team league in 1985.

G. The owners agreed to table the Dixon Salary Cap until the completion of the McKinsey Report.

H. The owners tabled a $22.5 million Emergency Fund until the finance committee could perform a final audit of the Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles franchises.

 I. The owners agreed to meet again in July during the week of the USFL championship game..

*The Dixon Salary Cap calls for a salary cap of a maximum of $3M for the 1985 season.  (Teams may exceed the cap only to pay players under personal services contracts between players and owners.)

more to come......