The United States Football League (USFL) is a planned professional American football league scheduled to start in April 2022. It was first announced June 2021 that the league will have the same name as a defunct league which was founded in 1982 and played three seasons from 1983 through 1985.

Fox Sports owns the league and reportedly has committed $150–200 million over three years to its operations,[2][3] with plans to attract additional $250 million from investors.[4] Unlike other alternative professional football leagues, the USFL will not function as a single entity league,[citation needed] and the plan is to attract private owners to each team\

What I like is that they are using the same teams as they did back in the 80's. Go Maulers!!!!!!!!!!

Pointless ... it'll never rival the NFL, and neither should it. One of the things I love about the NFL is its only September to January. It makes the seasons that much more special when they roll round and you get your Sundays back for half the year. Unlike soccer in this country which seems to be constant all year round, apart from a month in the summer.

DaveT said:

Pointless ... it'll never rival the NFL, and neither should it. One of the things I love about the NFL is its only September to January. It makes the seasons that much more special when they roll round and you get your Sundays back for half the year. Unlike soccer in this country which seems to be constant all year round, apart from a month in the summer.

I'm old enough to remember it and it was never established or intended to rival the NFL. It was there to fill a vacuum by giving certain cities who lacked an NFL franchise at the time a pro team (Birmingham, Portland, San Antonio, Jacksonville, Baltimore) while sprinkling in some larger cities that could support both (Philadelphia, Chicago, LA, Houston). It was meant as a SPRING football league and did quite well for itself as a start up. Games were played on Saturdays. They had some good talent and the product was above average. They innovated some rules changes that the NFL adapted.||

Had they stuck to thier business model, they may have had something.

Directly competing with the NFL was its ultimate downfall, led by a certain deal making business owner whose name I can't seem to recall right now, combined with over paying players instead of using a salary cap.

Like you, I don't think it will work because there's no longer a market for spring football, not because it's designed to "compete" with the NFL. Too many other things to do nowaydays, distractions, 24/7 coverage of every sport imaginable and people are burned out on football - again like you alluded to. BUt back then, fans didn't get every NFL game, a Monday game, a Thursday game, Red Zone, etc. so they didn't even watch as much NFL. For pro football fans in certian cities, the USFL was a godsend.

It's worth bringing back just for the beauty and the glory that was the most awesome pro helmet in design in football history. Look at this gorgeous thing. Carlolina should steal this design.

Speaking of helmets, I'm a Philadelphia fan and it always bugged me that not only did the Stars have the shittiest logo in the USFL, but it invoked the image of the Eagles' most hated rival, the Dallas Cowboys.

herb4 said:

DaveT said:

Pointless ... it'll never rival the NFL, and neither should it. One of the things I love about the NFL is its only September to January. It makes the seasons that much more special when they roll round and you get your Sundays back for half the year. Unlike soccer in this country which seems to be constant all year round, apart from a month in the summer.

It's worth bringing back just for the beauty and the glory that was the most awesome pro helmet in design in football history. Look at this gorgeous thing. Carlolina should steal this design.

I 100% Agree with that Michigan Panthers looked total bad ass. I'm glad the Maulers are back. They only had 1 season in the league and onlly had 3 wins. The Maulers had a pretty good attendance, mostly everyone in the Stadium wearing their Steeler's Jerseys, rooting for the Pittsburgh team

[Edited 12/21/21 8:48am]

Some notable USFL players

DaveT said:

Pointless ... it'll never rival the NFL, and neither should it. One of the things I love about the NFL is its only September to January. It makes the seasons that much more special when they roll round and you get your Sundays back for half the year. Unlike soccer in this country which seems to be constant all year round, apart from a month in the summer.

Well I think they know it will never replace the NFL. With the NFL draft in April there seems to be some excitement about NFL football again. I know I need my NFL fix. I enjoy Spring Football and it tides me over to when the NFL comes.

herb4 said:

I'm old enough to remember it and it was never established or intended to rival the NFL. It was there to fill a vacuum by giving certain cities who lacked an NFL franchise at the time a pro team (Birmingham, Portland, San Antonio, Jacksonville, Baltimore) while sprinkling in some larger cities that could support both (Philadelphia, Chicago, LA, Houston). It was meant as a SPRING football league and did quite well for itself as a start up. Games were played on Saturdays. They had some good talent and the product was above average. They innovated some rules changes that the NFL adapted.||

Had they stuck to thier business model, they may have had something.

Directly competing with the NFL was its ultimate downfall, led by a certain deal making business owner whose name I can't seem to recall right now, combined with over paying players instead of using a salary cap.

Like you, I don't think it will work because there's no longer a market for spring football, not because it's designed to "compete" with the NFL. Too many other things to do nowaydays, distractions, 24/7 coverage of every sport imaginable and people are burned out on football - again like you alluded to. BUt back then, fans didn't get every NFL game, a Monday game, a Thursday game, Red Zone, etc. so they didn't even watch as much NFL. For pro football fans in certian cities, the USFL was a godsend.

You make a lot of valid points. Season 3 killed the USFL when it decided to go against the NFL. The Pittsburgh Maulers folded because they were playing at Three Rivers Stadium and your Stars ended moving to Baltimore. I think there is some excitement for football in April with the NFL draft taking a place. I do hope fans come out and support their teams. Maybe Oakland Invaders will come back so Oakland can have a football team again (yeah I know it's not the Raiders, but better than not having a team and I don't think the Raiders will ever come back to Oakland). I'm glad they brought back the old teams with their original names and logo's. When the new XFL came out it was all new teams. Didn't like that approach.

[Edited 12/21/21 9:55am]

Maybe in time the rest of the league will come back

That Jacksonville Bulls helmet was pretty bad ass too.

I was in my mid teens when the USFL hit and me and a lot of my friends liked it a lot. I think a sping football league can work if they find their lane.

kpowers said:

Some notable USFL players

Also, Herschel Walker, Sam Mills, Doug Williams, Anthony Carter

herb4 said:

kpowers said:

Some notable USFL players

Also, Herschel Walker, Sam Mills, Doug Williams, Anthony Carter

Wow I forgot Anthony Carter was in the USFL. Hey Marv Levy was the Chicago Blitz head coach

They also had Brian Sipe, Bobby Hebert, Kelvin Bryant, Joe Cribbs, Irv Eatman, Mike Rozier, Gary Anderson, Vince Evans, Gary Zimmerman, Mel Gray, Gary Clark and Marcus Dupree. The league was legit. They just got too big for their britches, over paid players and stupidly tried to force a merger with the NFL instead of staying in their lane.

There's a 30 for 30 ESPN documentary on it that I think was really good so look that up.

If they'd used a salary cap and revenue sharing, I think they'd have been fine. Such a weird thing for the USFL to sue the NFL, claiming they had monopoly on the sport, when their very existence proved that was not true. The more greedy owners (some real estate mogul casino owner dude among them) saw a path towards a merger and owning an NFL team and fucked the whole thing up.

onlyforaminute said:

So would this mean my city gets a team again? I don't really watch football but every now and then I enjoy being part of the hoopla.

What city?

As much as I'm anti another top tier football league, I gotta admit I'm a sucker for other team names, kits, badges, helmets etc. I remember when I was a kid in the late 80s / early 90s finding out that the USFL had been a thing and finding out about all the other team names there had been. If felt like stumbling on an alternate universe!

I suppose one thing that might work is having a development league. When you consider how many football players in the US don't make it or won't have a chance of playing for an NFL team, you wonder why there isnt a lower down league ... something like the league tiers we have here in the UK with soccer. Am I right in thinking the NHL teams have a second team with a slightly different name where they have development players on their squads?

No, you're right. Baseball and the NHL have minor leagues and affiliates. For the NFL and NBA, the NCAA are their minor leagues (though the NBA does have a d-league I don't think it's team affiliated).

As a graphic designer, I'm with you as far as liking the logos, goofy team names and shit, especially with minor league baseball and hockey. I used to get free tickets to a lot of minor league hockey games here in Florida and it was soooo much fun.

I think a spring league that doubles as an NFL minor league of sorts makes a lot of sense but owners are cheap and why bother when young men play in college for free already? Though, that's starting to change too.

DaveT said:

As much as I'm anti another top tier football league, I gotta admit I'm a sucker for other team names, kits, badges, helmets etc. I remember when I was a kid in the late 80s / early 90s finding out that the USFL had been a thing and finding out about all the other team names there had been. If felt like stumbling on an alternate universe!

I suppose one thing that might work is having a development league. When you consider how many football players in the US don't make it or won't have a chance of playing for an NFL team, you wonder why there isnt a lower down league ... something like the league tiers we have here in the UK with soccer. Am I right in thinking the NHL teams have a second team with a slightly different name where they have development players on their squads?

Yeah it kinda is. I wonder how many former NFL players will be apart of the USFL. Maybe Cam Newton? Would be funny if he ends up with the Michigan Panthers. What about Ryan Fritzpatrick, the ulimate QB journeyman. Maybe Tim Tewbow??? He did try out for the Jaguars last season. Maybe even Johnny Manzel who did play in the Alliance league. I know a lot of the head Coaches will also be former NFL coaches as well.

One good thing is that Daryl "moose" Johnston will be the head of operations for the USFL. I know he has no intentions of trying to go up against the NFL like the USFL did for season 3. Johnston he said he will be using NFL rules for the USFL, not 100% sure what that means but I'm guessing they will also have a salary cap put into place.

kpowers said:

DaveT said:

As much as I'm anti another top tier football league, I gotta admit I'm a sucker for other team names, kits, badges, helmets etc. I remember when I was a kid in the late 80s / early 90s finding out that the USFL had been a thing and finding out about all the other team names there had been. If felt like stumbling on an alternate universe!

I suppose one thing that might work is having a development league. When you consider how many football players in the US don't make it or won't have a chance of playing for an NFL team, you wonder why there isnt a lower down league ... something like the league tiers we have here in the UK with soccer. Am I right in thinking the NHL teams have a second team with a slightly different name where they have development players on their squads?

Yeah it kinda is. I wonder how many former NFL players will be apart of the USFL. Maybe Cam Newton? Would be funny if he ends up with the Michigan Panthers. What about Ryan Fritzpatrick, the ulimate QB journeyman. Maybe Tim Tewbow??? He did try out for the Jaguars last season. Maybe even Johnny Manzel who did play in the Alliance league. I know a lot of the head Coaches will also be former NFL coaches as well.

Yeah, it will probably names like that, I agree.

The original USFL made some huge splashes by signing top tier talent coming out of college (Young, Kelly, Walker, White) but they over paid for it. I can't imagine any new upstart spring league competing for guys like Trevor Lawrence or Joe Burrow. Some of the veteran names you mentioned make sense I guess but, more likely, it'll be the other way around where some player nobody every heard of makes a name in the USFL and then gets signed by an NFL team.

Think Kurt Warner

herb4 said:

kpowers said:

Yeah it kinda is. I wonder how many former NFL players will be apart of the USFL. Maybe Cam Newton? Would be funny if he ends up with the Michigan Panthers. What about Ryan Fritzpatrick, the ulimate QB journeyman. Maybe Tim Tewbow??? He did try out for the Jaguars last season. Maybe even Johnny Manzel who did play in the Alliance league. I know a lot of the head Coaches will also be former NFL coaches as well.

Yeah, it will probably names like that, I agree.

The original USFL made some huge splashes by signing top tier talent coming out of college (Young, Kelly, Walker, White) but they over paid for it. I can't imagine any new upstart spring league competing for guys like Trevor Lawrence or Joe Burrow. Some of the veteran names you mentioned make sense I guess but, more likely, it'll be the other way around where some player nobody every heard of makes a name in the USFL and then gets signed by an NFL team.

Think Kurt Warner

I agree with that. USFL will get former NFL players at the end of their careers, though still will be fun to watch

onlyforaminute said:

So would this mean my city gets a team again? I don't really watch football but every now and then I enjoy being part of the hoopla.

Current USFL cities

Pittsburgh

Philadelphia

New Jesey/ New York

Detroit

Tampa

New Orleans

Birmingham

Houston

Former and possible new USFL cities

LA

Tempe/ Phoenix

Chicago

Denver

Jacksonville

Memphis

Oakland

Tulsa

Orlando

San Antonio

Washington

These cities also had former teams move to their cities

Baltimore (Philadelphia Stars)

Portand (New Orleans Breakers)

Boston (Breakers original city)

But...Jacksonville already HAS a minor league team?

herb4 said:

herb4 said:

kpowers said:

herb4 said:

But...Jacksonville already HAS a minor league team?

You mean the Jaguars

Oh, yes.

They have to be seen to be believed

onlyforaminute said:

kpowers said:

onlyforaminute said:

kpowers said:

I have a feeling if the LA Express returns and they don't work out in LA I have a feeling the USFL will move them to San Diego. Of course the helmet would have to say Express instead of LA

Oh, even here L.A. has another one? Looks like the powers that be don't want them here. Oh well, it's golf and baseball forever, I guess it explains a few things.

Like I said I have a feeling if things don't work out in LA, the USFL will probably move the LA Express to San Diego. You want a team to represent Southern California so if it's not in LA than San Diego is the most logical 2nd choice. For Northern California the Oakland Invaders will most likely return.