Event Date: September 1st, 1985
Event Description: State of the League Report
Source: League Office
State of the League Report
Presented by Peter Hadhazy and Jim Byrne to Commissioner Harry Usher on the eve of the September league meetings.
Transition Franchises
Birmingham Stallions
Marvin Warner is out as owner and Harold Ripps is in as majority owner. The city of Birmingham owns a portion of the team after their infusion of cash into the team during the season.
Ripps should be a solid owner and the team will also be shedding the contracts of Joe Cribbs and Jim Smith who will moving on to the National Football League.
Fan support really rallied as the teams’ future appeared in doubt until the city offered much needed loans. A poor showing on the field did not help matters at the gate.
Former owner Marvin Warner was a supporter of Donald Trump’s plan to move to the fall as well as pursuing litigation against both ABC and the NFL.
A franchise in transition. They need to get back to their winning ways, but that may come with an increased cost in player salaries.
BASE SALARY CAP # ’85-$3.040 (excluding bonus money).
Houston Gamblers
Houston’s trio of owners has been replaced by Trump ally Stephen Ross.
Ross will bring a badly needed infusion of cash and is committed to the league at least for the foreseeable future. He is friend of Trump and could also be in favor of pursuing litigation againt the NFL.
On the field, the Gamblers are a championship calibur team with great star power.
BASE SALARY CAP #-$3.185 (excluding Kelly’s personal services contract and bonus money).
*Oakland Invaders
Tad Taube is growing increasingly frustrated with his team both on and off the field. Taube is convinced that the city council and the NFL are working together to try and put the team out of business.
Fan support is solid despite the teams’ 3-13 record last season.
The team needs to overhaul their roster as they have already lost RB Albert Bentley to the NFL and QB Fred Besana is a free-agent.
BASE SALARY CAP #-$2.040
Orlando Renegades
Fan support is solid and Donald Dizney is committed to building a successful franchise in Orlando.
The Renegades are a small market team with an enrgetic head coach and some decent talent.
The addition of John Reaves at quarterback could make Reggie Collier expendable.
BASE SALARY CAP #-$2.115
*Philadelphia Stars
One of the best teams in the league through the first few seasons.
Solid franchise with a great owner, however they are also open to changes including a merger or move.
The Stars have had disagreements with the Philadelphia city council and Veterans Stadium and have been hurt by lackluster attendance at times.
Owner Myles Tanenbaum is one of the best and has had overtures from the city of Baltimore regarding the relocation of the franchise. Those talks continue and could gain momentum.
If the team were to move to Baltimore they could then be a potential merger/expansiion target for the NFL.
BASE SALARY CAP # ’85-$2.615 (excluding player bonuses).
Pittsburgh Maulers
Eddie DeBartalo Sr. is growing increasingly frustrated with regard to his franchise. The team has struggled both on and off the field.
The Mike Rozier debacle, bad spring weather and a lack of support from the fans have hurt the team at the box office.
The team has some talent, but is overall lacking in depth and the coaching staff has been below average.
DeBartolo and Myles Tanenbaum were said to have had conversations regarding a possible merger.
DeBartolo has also been contacted by city officials from Baltimore regarding the re-location of the franchise.
Stable financially, but this team is also at a cross roads and their direction is best described as to be determined.
SALARY CAP # ’85-$2.675 (excluding player bonuses).
Tampa Bay Bandits
The Bandits under John Bassett have been the gold standard of teams in the USFL in terms of both on the field competitiveness and strong fan support.
Bassett’s health obviously puts a major cloud over this franchise however it seems like minority owner Lee Scarfone is readying to assume a majority ownership role and has the means to do it.
Stable franchise as long as the ownership groups remain strong.
Bassett has clashed with New Jersey owner Donald Trump with regard to moving to a fall season. Bassett won the power struggle last year, but Trump has not completely abandoned the idea.
The status of John Bassett is yet to be determined at this time.
SALARY CAP # ’85-$2.698 (excluding player bonuses and futures contract bonuses)
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