The LA Express of the USFL signed Steve Young to a $40 million guaranteed contract to be paid over 43 YEARS, the largest contract in pro sports at the time.
As we recently saw with the brief rise and fall of the AAF, it is difficult to to compete with the NFL and be profitable. However there was one league that managed to obtain star power and put out a consistently interesting product on the field. That league was known as the United States Football League.
The USFL opened in 1983 as a spring football league. They went all out in trying to get great talent, and they did succeed. Some legends that ended up playing for the USFL included: Jim Kelly, Reggie White, and Steve Young. After a few successful seasons, the USFL became greedy. They decided for the 1986 season they were going head to head with the NFL.
This decision was proven to be the wrong one. They ended up walking away from 2 huge offers from ESPN and ABC in order to pursue this head to head competition, which in turn lead to a lawsuit against the NFL. The USFL alleged the NFL had established a monopoly in regards to TV deals and stadium venues. With the major claim being that the NFL had attempted to force the USFL off television. The USFL sought after huge damages with their number being $567 million, however under the anti-trust law this number could be tripled with the USFL earning $1.69 billion.
On this day in sport history the USFL finally got their settlement and they got absolutely wrecked. The court found the NFL guilty of running a monopoly and awarded the USFL WITH 1 DOLLAR. I swear that is not a typo they actually got rewarded 1 actual dollar for this case. But hey don’t forget that anti-trust law that triples the amount to 3 actual dollars.
The USFL put its entire future on the outcome of this case. They would end up being $160 million in debt and had to close their doors shortly after. Truly an outstanding case of incompetence that we may not see again in sports.
