The USFL will launch on Saturday, April 16 in yet another attempt to start a professional football league.
This is the second attempt at spring football for the USFL. The first league enjoyed short-lived success from 1983-86. The new USFL will bank on that nostalgia factor with the same franchises and team names from the 1980s. It's also not a direct challenger for the NFL.
Why did the original USFL catch on and eventually fail? That's a history lesson worth looking at.
What was the original USFL?
New Orleans businessman David Dixon, who helped get the Saints to the NFL, had a vision for a spring and summer football league, and that groundwork was laid in 1980.
MORE USFL: Top players from original league | Ranking uniforms | Rule changes | Schedule
The timing helped. The NFL had a strike-shortened season in 1982, and the USFL's first season was the following spring in 1983. The league had 12 teams, and several of those teams played in NFL stadiums.
The league also secured solid television deals. The 1983 USFL championship game between the Michigan Panthers and Philadelphia Stars was televised on ABC and Keith Jackson and Lynn Swann called the game.
The league lasted three seasons from 1983-85.
What did the USFL do right?
The USFL originally planned to bar underclassmen, but that changed when they allowed Georgia star Herschel Walker, arguably the greatest college football player of all time, to sign with the New Jersey Generals after his junior season. Heisman Trophy winners Mike Rozier and Doug Flutie followed Walker to the USFL over the NFL.
The talent level in the USFL was legitimate. Future Pro Football Hall of Famers Jim Kelly, Steve Young, Reggie White and Gary Zimmerman also played in the league. Kelly and Young played in a legendary 34-33 shootout between the Houston Gamblers and Los Angeles Express in 1985; a game in which Kelly passed for 574 yards and five TDs.
On the field, the USFL allowed for two-point conversions, a rule the NFL would not adopt until 1994. That was one of the quirks of a league that enjoyed modest success in its first season.
What did the USFL do wrong?
The USFL didn't have a salary cap, and that made for financial trouble for some franchises. The stability of those franchises from year to year was tough.
The league tried to expand from 12 to 18 teams for its second season, and by the third season it trimmed back down to 14 teams. Only six of those USFL franchises lasted all three seasons.
USFL franchises by year
| 1983 | 1984 | 1985 |
| New Jersey Generals | New Jersey Generals | New Jersey Generals |
| Tampa Bay Bandits | Tampa Bay Bandits | Tampa Bay Bandits |
| Birmingham Stallions | Birmingham Stallions | Birmingham Stallions |
| Oakland Invaders | Oakland Invaders | Oakland Invaders |
| Denver Gold | Denver Gold | Denver Gold |
| Los Angeles Express | Los Angeles Express | Los Angeles Express |
| Michigan Panthers | Michigan Panthers | |
| Washington Federals | Washington Federals | |
| Chicago Blitz | Chicago Blitz | |
| Arizona Wranglers | Arizona Wranglers | |
| Philadelphia Stars | Philadelphia Stars | Baltimore Stars |
| Boston Breakers | New Orleans Breakers | Portland Breakers |
| Pittsburgh Maulers | ||
| Memphis Showboats | Memphis Showboats | |
| Jacksonville Bulls | Jacksonville Bulls | |
| Houston Gamblers | Houston Gamblers | |
| Oklahoma Outlaws | Arizona Outlaws | |
| San Antonio Gunslingers | San Antonio Gunslingers | |
| Orlando Renegades |
The new version of the USFL will start with eight teams in 2022.
Donald Trump also was involved in the USFL. He became the owner of the New Jersey Generals in 1984, and he led the push for the league to move to a fall schedule and directly compete with the NFL. The USFL filed an antitrust lawsuit with the NFL and won the case for $1, but the three-year court battle added to the league's financial woes.
The USFL would ultimately fold in 1986.
What is the USFL's legacy?
The original USFL had success and was seen as a fun alternative for the NFL and offered a blueprint for success in some cases.
The nostalgia factor will be high, too. The new USFL kept the teams names and it paid homage to the original league. The glamour franchise (New Jersey Generals), their biggest rival (Tampa Bay Bandits) and the most-successful franchise (Philadelphia Stars) are back.
USFL franchises for 2022
| Birmingham Stallions |
| Houston Gamblers |
| Michigan Panthers |
| New Jersey Generals |
| New Orleans Breakers |
| Philadelphia Stars |
| Pittsburgh Maulers |
| Tampa Bay Bandits |
Marv Levy and Bill Polian took the lessons learned from the Chicago Blitz and built a four-time AFC champion with the Buffalo Bills around Kelly at quarterback.
Ultimately, the financial instability and directly challenging the NFL led to the league's demise. That's a lesson the XFL would learn later, and the new USFL would be better served as a developmental league that experiments with new innovations the NFL can use later.
The USFL is in the right window on the sports calendar, and this time it coincides with the MLB coming off a lockout. Don't be surprised if there is modest success at the start, but can it maintain that viewership?
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