'84 Chronology-July Owners Meeting

Event Date: July 1984

Internal Memo: United States Football League Owners Meeting

Re: Expansion and Relocation

The owners considered the following; 

1. A proposal to grant league founder David Dixon a minority interest in the New Orleans Breakers organization (Dixon will also waive all rights to a future expansion franchise).
2. A proposal to move the Washington Federals franchise to Woody Weiser. 
3. A recommendation from the Relocation Committee to allow the transfer of the Washington Federals franchise to Miami for next season.
4. A proposal to continue talks regarding a new franchise to be placed in San Antonio for the 1985 or 1986 seasons with the team being sold to either Clinton Manges or Red McCombs.
5. A proposal from New Jersey Generals owner Donald J. Trump to move to the fall for the 1986 season.
6. A recommendation from the Executive Committee for the league  to take control of the Chicago franchise for one year.
7. 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.
8.  A proposal from the Einhorn group to be granted a new franchise  for the city of Chicago which would begin play in 1986.
9. A recommendation from the league finance committee calling for a strict adherence to the so-called Original Concept Cap* for the 1985 season and beyond.

The owners agreed to the following;

1. The owners approved the sale of a minority interest in the New Orleans Breakers franchise to league founder David Dixon (the sale will also include monetary compensation paid to Mr. Dixon in exchange for his waiving of any future claims to an expansion team).
2. The owners approved the sale of Washington franchise to Woody Weiser; final sale still pending.
3. The owners approved the resolution to continue talks with Clinton Manges regarding a future expansion team to be placed in San Antonio, Texas.
4. The owners rejected the proposal from Donald J. Trump to move to the fall in 1986 citing the completion of the McKinsey Report.
5. The owners rejected the recommendation from the Executive Committee to have the league take control of the Chicago Blitz franchise and move them into involuntary bankruptcy.
6. The owners tabled a proposal from the Einhorn group regarding control of the Chicago franchise until the release of the McKinsey Report.
7. The owners agreed to table all expansion franchise charters until after the submission of the McKinsey Report.
8. The owners agreed to table the Original Concept Cap until the completion of the McKinsey Report.
9. The owners agreed to a $22.5 million Emergency Fund to help finance the Chicago and Los Angeles franchises, and put both franchises under conditional league control.
10. Accepted the final team salary reports from the Finance Committee.
11. The owners agreed to meet again in August after the release of the McKinsey Report.

*The Original Concept 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......