August 24, 2009

A few weeks back (see blog of August 5, 2009) we spoke of the demise of the Arena Football League. At that time we reminisced about the United States Football League (USFL) and its eventual collapse. We briefly touched upon the antitrust suit brought by the USFL against the NFL, promised to return to the topic, and here we are.

After the USFL’s second season, which by the way was in the spring and not in direct competition with the NFL, the USFL owners decided to file a lawsuit against the NFL and its teams. Also, included as a defendant was NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle. Of note was the one NFL team owner not named as a defendant, Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders. Al Davis was to testify for the USFL and against the NFL during the trial, thus gaining exclusion as a defendant.

The case was brought in the Southern District of New York before Judge Peter Leisure. The USFL centered its case around two main issues. First, the USFL claimed the NFL exerted its power on the three major networks; CBS, ABC, and NBC, not to televise the USFL in the fall. Next, the USFL maintained that there was a presentation by a Harvard professor named Michael Porter on how to squash it’s competition from the USFL. The presentation was for NFL executives and the USFL felt that it was their smoking gun.

The trial lasted for 48 days during the summer of 1986. Among the witnesses were Howard Cossel, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, and Donald Trump.

Flamboyant attorney Harvey Myerson took the lead for the USFL in the case and delivered a strong closing statement. At the time it appeared the USFL would prevail in the case, but when the verdict came in on July 29, 1986 the NFL, although declared a monopoly, came up with the victory. The jury awarded the USFL one dollar, and with triple damages the total award became three dollars.

The jury felt the USFL did not follow through on it’s original vision of building a strong league through a loyal fan base and providing entertaining football in the spring. It seemed that the jury was telling the USFL that it wanted too much too soon. Donald Trump as much as admitted this over the years. So even though the NFL was, and for that matter still is, a monopoly, the USFL’s problems were not so much caused by the NFL but by the mismanagement of the USFL owners.