Event Date: October 31st, 1988
Event Description: Ushering in a New Era
Source: Football Digest
Under the terms of the agreement the National Football League will grant four expansion teams which will begin play in 1990. The cities to be added will be Baltimore, Jacksonville, Memphis and Charlotte, North Carolina.
The owners of the new teams will come from the U.S.F.L. ranks which will include Myles Tanenbaum (Baltimore), William Dunavant (Memphis), Stephen Ross (Jacksonville via merger with New Jersey) and A.Alfred Taubman who will relocate his franchise from Oakland to Charlotte.
As for the remaining U.S.F.L. teams they will now fold or merge with each other as the league terminates operations.
Those combinations include Tampa Bay and New Jersey merging with Jacksonville. Jacksonville Bulls owner Fred Bullard will become a minority owner in the new Jacksonville franchise.
The U.S.F.L. teams in Birmingham, Houston, Orlando and Oklahoma will now fold. However, the owners of those former teams will receive an undisclosed payment from the expansion owners who will be moving into the National Football League.
The N.F.L. and U.S.F.L. owners have also agreed to the following terms regarding with regard to consolidation:
All pending litigation as a result of the U.S.F.L. antitrust trial will be terminated. The N.F.L. will pay all legal fees associated with their antitrust suit loss, but the damages awarded to the U.S.F.L. will be modified.
The former U.S.F.L. teams will be treated as expansion franchises and will pay an entry fee of $40 million dollars each to be spread out over five years.
The four new expansion teams will receive no television money during their first three years of operation.
The four new expansion teams will not have any voting rights for their first two years of operation.
A dispersal draft, modeled after the 1984 Supplemental Draft, will be held on December 5th and 6th. Free agent players from the U.S.F.L. and C.F.L. will be eligible, and will be able to pursue jobs in either the N.F.L. or C.F.L. starting on February 1st.
The contract rights to quarterback Doug Flutie will be assigned to the New England Patriots as part of a deal struck with owner Victor Kiam.
The four new expansion teams will participate in an expansion draft in the spring of 1990. The players in that draft will be made available after the conclusion of the 1989 N.F.L. season.
The four new expansion teams will participate in the 1990 college draft, however, they will be placed at the end of the draft order.
The new Baltimore franchise will pay an undisclosed indemnity to both the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles for encroaching on their territorial rights.
The new Memphis franchise will pay an undisclosed indemnity to both the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers for encroaching on their territorial rights.
The new Jacksonville franchise will pay an undisclosed indemnity to both the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers for encroaching on their territorial rights.
The new Carolina franchise will pay an undisclosed indemnity to both the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints for encroaching on their territorial rights.
The U.S.F.L. Players Association will immediately decertify and disband.
The statistics and records from the U.S.F.L. will not be recognized by the National Football League.
In addition to those terms, the National Football League will realign into eight division of four teams. The new divisions are reported to be as follows:
American Football Conference
AFC East-Buffalo, Miami, New England, and New York Jets.
AFC Central-Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore*.
AFC South-Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville* and Memphis*.
AFC West-Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles Raiders, and San Diego.
National Football Conference
NFC East-Dallas, New York Giants, Philadelphia and Washington.
NFC Central-Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay and Minnesota.
NFC South-Atlanta, New Orleans, Tampa Bay and Carolina*
NFC West-Los Angeles Rams, Phoenix Cardinals**, San Francisco and Seattle Seahawks+.
**The Phoenix Cardinals will shift from the NFC East to the NFC West.
+The Seattle Seahawks will shift from the AFC West to the NFC West.
With amalgamation now complete, the experiment that was professional spring football seems to have come to its conclusion, at least for now.
4 comments:
Say it ain't so!
Why don't the remaining teams and their owners create a new league instead of folding. New league can consist of 8 teams.
Maybe the ex-USFL owners should merge with the CFL?
Sounds good 👍 Except you would lose the "alternative league " feel and become just another NFL/CFL sim. That being said, it is an intriguing idea. ( I am a big Alternative Football League fan. Lol).
Post a Comment