United States Football League on television
Encyclopedia
On May 24, 1982, the United States Football League
(USFL) reached an agreement with ABC
and ESPN
on television rights. The money for inaugural 1983 season would be a total of $
13 million: $9 million from ABC and $4 million from ESPN (roughly $1.1 million per team).
evening game, plus coverage of the USFL divisional playoffs and championship game. The contract required the USFL to schedule a minimum of three games on Sunday, with ABC guaranteed to broadcast one game nationally (the aforementioned, Sunday afternoon game-of-the-week) or two or more regionally. The contract included no clauses regarding "blackouts
" or "cross-feeding". In all, the total package with ABC called for 21 telecasts of USFL action. Meanwhile, ESPN generally televised two prime time games (on Saturdays and Mondays respectively) each week of the USFL season.
opened their 1983 schedule with a 9-7 win at Legion Field
in Birmingham, Alabama
against the Stallons
. The game marked the first professional football game ever to be broadcast on ESPN
. Novo Bojovic
of Serbia hit the winning field goal from 48 yards out in the waning moments to preserve the Panthers' road win.
played in the first nationally televised USFL game, with the Express winning, 20-15.
In 1984, the league began discussing the possibility of competing head-to-head with the NFL by playing its games in the fall beginning in 1986. The idea was to force a merger in which the NFL would be forced to admit some USFL teams. Despite the protests of many of the league's "old guard," who wanted to stay with the original plan of playing football in the spring months, the voices of Chicago owner Eddie Einhorn
and Generals owner Donald Trump
and others would eventually prevail. Trump sold a majority of the other owners on the gamble that if a merger did occur, their teams would instantly be worth the $70 million or so NFL franchises were worth at that time --- tripling, quadrupling, or more their cash investment.
On October 18, 1984, the league's owners voted to go along with Einhorn and Trump's idea and begin playing a fall season in 1986. The spring advocates had lost and the fall advocates would accept nothing less than victory vs. the NFL, either by forcing a merger or winning a sizeable settlement and securing a TV network for fall broadcasts. Spring football had been replaced with an incredibly risky gamble for a huge return.
In another effort to keep themselves afloat while at the same time attacking the more established National Football League
, the USFL filed an antitrust
lawsuit
against the older league, claiming it had established a monopoly
with respect to television broadcasting rights, and in some cases, to access of stadium venues.
The USFL claimed that the NFL had bullied ABC, CBS
and NBC
into not televising USFL games in the fall. It also claimed that the NFL had a specific plan to eliminate the USFL, the "Porter Presentation." In particular, the USFL claimed the NFL conspired to ruin the Invaders and Generals. The USFL sought damages
of $567 million, which would have been tripled
to $1.7 billion under antitrust law. It hoped to void the NFL's contracts with the three major networks. The USFL proposed two remedies: either force the NFL to negotiate new television contracts with only two networks, or force the NFL to split into two competing 14-team leagues, each limited to a contract with one major network.
for their first USFL season. This was slightly better than the network's coverage of the first American Football League
football season back in 1960. In its second year, AFL games on ABC averaged a 6.1 rating, and in 1962, the third year, a 6.5.
Overall, ESPN averaged a 3.3 rating for its USFL coverage, a 3.0 for Saturday games and a 3.5 for the Monday night coverage. "We are pretty pleased with the results", said an ESPN spokesman, who noted that the network's overall USFL rating average was almost 50%
higher than its prime time average for their entire fourth quarter of 1982.
30,000; playoff spots at $35,000. Thirty second spots for the championship game between the Michigan Panthers
and the Philadelphia Stars played on July 17 sold for $60,000. Major sponsors throughout the season included Gallo
, Anheuser Busch, Buick
, Chevrolet
, Dodge
, Honda
and Miller
.
Major USFL sponsors for ESPN in 1984 included Ford
, Anheuser Busch, American Motors
, DuPont
, GMC, Mattel
, Michelin
, Nissan, Noxema, Timex and A.C. Delco.
, Los Angeles, and New York
markets. Not coincidentally, these markets were home to ABC's best-performing owned-and-operated stations.
part-owner Eddie Einhorn
was awarded a new Chicago franchise. While it was stressed that this new franchise was not the Blitz, Einhorn retained all player contracts. A strong proponent of the USFL's planned move to the fall in 1986, he opted not to field a team in 1985. ABC had no objections to this move, probably due to the USFL's anemic ratings in Chicago.
took over as head coach, the USFL announced that it would switch to a fall schedule for the 1986 season. Local support for the Gold practically vanished. While the Gold had been one of the USFL's attendance leaders, fans in the Denver area were not about to abandon the Broncos
in favor of the Gold. Despite finally getting into the playoffs with an 11-7 record, the Gold's attendance crashed to 14,400 fans per game. As a result, despite finishing second in the Western Conference, they were forced to play on the road against the lower-seeded Memphis Showboats
under pressure from ABC. The network, who had considerable influence over the USFL due to the structuring of the league's television contract, did not want the embarrassment of having a game played in a near-empty Mile High Stadium
.
, even in their breakthrough 1984 season. The low attendance figures began to prove very embarrassing and frustrating both to the league and ABC, which had hoped for a more credible product to emanate from the nation's second-largest media market. The team had to play its last home game at Los Angeles Pierce College
, a small junior college
in the San Fernando Valley
.
The Arizona Wranglers
, despite having the worse record of the two participating teams, got to host the 1984 Western Conference championship game because the Coliseum was being prepared for the 1984 Summer Olympics
. To accommodate Arizona's oppressive summer heat, as well as the ABC Sports television schedule, the game kicked off at 8:30 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. Eastern time.
ABC used Frank Gifford
as the studio anchor and Mike Adamle
as a sideline reporter. Another play-by-play man that ABC used was Curt Gowdy
.
ESPN used Tom Mees
as a studio anchor.
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
(USFL) reached an agreement with ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
on television rights. The money for inaugural 1983 season would be a total of $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
13 million: $9 million from ABC and $4 million from ESPN (roughly $1.1 million per team).
Coverage overview
ABC televised a Sunday afternoon game-of-the-week, one prime timePrime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
evening game, plus coverage of the USFL divisional playoffs and championship game. The contract required the USFL to schedule a minimum of three games on Sunday, with ABC guaranteed to broadcast one game nationally (the aforementioned, Sunday afternoon game-of-the-week) or two or more regionally. The contract included no clauses regarding "blackouts
Blackout (broadcasting)
Blackout usually relates to the broadcasting of sports events, television programming, that is prohibited in a certain media market.The purpose is theoretically to generate more revenue by obliging certain actions from fans, either by making them buy tickets or watch other games on TV...
" or "cross-feeding". In all, the total package with ABC called for 21 telecasts of USFL action. Meanwhile, ESPN generally televised two prime time games (on Saturdays and Mondays respectively) each week of the USFL season.
The first professional football game to ever be broadcast on ESPN
On Monday, March 7, 1983 the Michigan PanthersMichigan Panthers
The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s.-Team history:The Michigan Panthers were named as a charter member of the United States Football League on May 11, 1982....
opened their 1983 schedule with a 9-7 win at Legion Field
Legion Field
Legion Field is a large stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but is occasionally used for other large outdoor events. The stadium is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans. At its peak...
in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
against the Stallons
Birmingham Stallions
The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their home games at Birmingham, Alabama's Legion Field...
. The game marked the first professional football game ever to be broadcast on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
. Novo Bojovic
Novo Bojovic
Novo Bojovic is a former placekicker. Bojovic played college football at Central Michigan before embarking on a career in professional football which lasted nine years. Bojovic began his career in pro football with the United States Football League's Michigan Panthers in 1983...
of Serbia hit the winning field goal from 48 yards out in the waning moments to preserve the Panthers' road win.
The first USFL game on ABC
Meanwhile, one day earlier, the Los Angeles Express and New Jersey GeneralsNew Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983-85, winning 31 regular-season games and losing 25 while going 0-2 in postseason competition...
played in the first nationally televised USFL game, with the Express winning, 20-15.
The end of the USFL itself
ABC offered the USFL a 4 year, $175 million dollar TV deal to play in the spring in 1986. ESPN offered $70M over 3 years. Following all the mergers and shutdowns, there just were not enough spring football advocates left in the league to accept those contracts. The owners in the league walked away from what averaged out to $67 million per year starting in 1986 to pursue their big picture --- merger with the NFL.In 1984, the league began discussing the possibility of competing head-to-head with the NFL by playing its games in the fall beginning in 1986. The idea was to force a merger in which the NFL would be forced to admit some USFL teams. Despite the protests of many of the league's "old guard," who wanted to stay with the original plan of playing football in the spring months, the voices of Chicago owner Eddie Einhorn
Eddie Einhorn
Eddie Einhorn is minority owner and Vice Chairman of the Chicago White Sox.Einhorn produced the nationally syndicated radio broadcast of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1958...
and Generals owner Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
and others would eventually prevail. Trump sold a majority of the other owners on the gamble that if a merger did occur, their teams would instantly be worth the $70 million or so NFL franchises were worth at that time --- tripling, quadrupling, or more their cash investment.
On October 18, 1984, the league's owners voted to go along with Einhorn and Trump's idea and begin playing a fall season in 1986. The spring advocates had lost and the fall advocates would accept nothing less than victory vs. the NFL, either by forcing a merger or winning a sizeable settlement and securing a TV network for fall broadcasts. Spring football had been replaced with an incredibly risky gamble for a huge return.
In another effort to keep themselves afloat while at the same time attacking the more established National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, the USFL filed an antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
against the older league, claiming it had established a monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
with respect to television broadcasting rights, and in some cases, to access of stadium venues.
The USFL claimed that the NFL had bullied ABC, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
into not televising USFL games in the fall. It also claimed that the NFL had a specific plan to eliminate the USFL, the "Porter Presentation." In particular, the USFL claimed the NFL conspired to ruin the Invaders and Generals. The USFL sought damages
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
of $567 million, which would have been tripled
Treble damages
Treble damages, in law, is a term that indicates that a statute permits a court to triple the amount of the actual/compensatory damages to be awarded to a prevailing plaintiff, generally in order to punish the losing party for willful conduct. Treble damages are a multiple of, and not an addition...
to $1.7 billion under antitrust law. It hoped to void the NFL's contracts with the three major networks. The USFL proposed two remedies: either force the NFL to negotiate new television contracts with only two networks, or force the NFL to split into two competing 14-team leagues, each limited to a contract with one major network.
Ratings
According to an ABC spokesman, the network averaged a 6.0 ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
for their first USFL season. This was slightly better than the network's coverage of the first American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
football season back in 1960. In its second year, AFL games on ABC averaged a 6.1 rating, and in 1962, the third year, a 6.5.
Overall, ESPN averaged a 3.3 rating for its USFL coverage, a 3.0 for Saturday games and a 3.5 for the Monday night coverage. "We are pretty pleased with the results", said an ESPN spokesman, who noted that the network's overall USFL rating average was almost 50%
Percentage
In mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100 . It is often denoted using the percent sign, “%”, or the abbreviation “pct”. For example, 45% is equal to 45/100, or 0.45.Percentages are used to express how large/small one quantity is, relative to another quantity...
higher than its prime time average for their entire fourth quarter of 1982.
Sponsors
ABC claimed to have made a profit from its coverage of USFL during the 1983 season. Regular season 30-second spots were priced at $United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
30,000; playoff spots at $35,000. Thirty second spots for the championship game between the Michigan Panthers
Michigan Panthers
The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s.-Team history:The Michigan Panthers were named as a charter member of the United States Football League on May 11, 1982....
and the Philadelphia Stars played on July 17 sold for $60,000. Major sponsors throughout the season included Gallo
Gallo
Gallo can mean:*related to Gaul, as in Gallo-Roman culture*Gallo language, a regional language of France*Gallo , from Guatemala*Gallo Matese, a commune of 761 inhabitants in the province of Caserta, Italy...
, Anheuser Busch, Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
, Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
, Dodge
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
, Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
and Miller
Miller Brewing Company
The Miller Brewing Company is an American beer brewing company owned by the United Kingdom-based SABMiller. Its regional headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the company has brewing facilities in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas;...
.
Major USFL sponsors for ESPN in 1984 included Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, Anheuser Busch, American Motors
American Motors
American Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...
, DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
, GMC, Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
, Michelin
Michelin
Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...
, Nissan, Noxema, Timex and A.C. Delco.
Franchises most affected by the television coverage
ABC's contract with the league required that, at the very least, there had to be franchises in the ChicagoChicago Blitz
The Chicago Blitz were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid 1980s. They played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.- Team history :...
, Los Angeles, and New York
New Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983-85, winning 31 regular-season games and losing 25 while going 0-2 in postseason competition...
markets. Not coincidentally, these markets were home to ABC's best-performing owned-and-operated stations.
Chicago Blitz
Before the end of the 1984 season, it was announced that the Blitz would be shut down. Chicago White SoxChicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
part-owner Eddie Einhorn
Eddie Einhorn
Eddie Einhorn is minority owner and Vice Chairman of the Chicago White Sox.Einhorn produced the nationally syndicated radio broadcast of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1958...
was awarded a new Chicago franchise. While it was stressed that this new franchise was not the Blitz, Einhorn retained all player contracts. A strong proponent of the USFL's planned move to the fall in 1986, he opted not to field a team in 1985. ABC had no objections to this move, probably due to the USFL's anemic ratings in Chicago.
Denver Gold
Just after Mouse DavisMouse Davis
Darrel "Mouse" Davis is an American football coach and former player. A veteran coach at the high school, college, and professional levels, he is currently the wide receivers coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Davis served as the head football coach at Portland State University from...
took over as head coach, the USFL announced that it would switch to a fall schedule for the 1986 season. Local support for the Gold practically vanished. While the Gold had been one of the USFL's attendance leaders, fans in the Denver area were not about to abandon the Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in favor of the Gold. Despite finally getting into the playoffs with an 11-7 record, the Gold's attendance crashed to 14,400 fans per game. As a result, despite finishing second in the Western Conference, they were forced to play on the road against the lower-seeded Memphis Showboats
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were a franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders...
under pressure from ABC. The network, who had considerable influence over the USFL due to the structuring of the league's television contract, did not want the embarrassment of having a game played in a near-empty Mile High Stadium
Mile High Stadium
Mile High Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, that stood in Denver, Colorado, from 1948 until 2001.It hosted the Denver Broncos, of the AFL and the NFL, from 1960-2000, the Colorado Rockies, of the National League, of the MLB, from 1993-1994, the Colorado Rapids, of MLS, from 1996-2001, the...
.
Los Angeles Express
The team never drew well at the cavernous Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
, even in their breakthrough 1984 season. The low attendance figures began to prove very embarrassing and frustrating both to the league and ABC, which had hoped for a more credible product to emanate from the nation's second-largest media market. The team had to play its last home game at Los Angeles Pierce College
Los Angeles Pierce College
Los Angeles Pierce College, also known as Pierce College, Pierce, is a community college that serves more than 23,000 students in the northern Chalk Hills of Woodland Hills, a community within the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.The college began with 70 students...
, a small junior college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
.
The Arizona Wranglers
Arizona Wranglers
The Arizona Wranglers were a professional American Football team in the United States Football League in the mid 1980s. They played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix.-Founding:...
, despite having the worse record of the two participating teams, got to host the 1984 Western Conference championship game because the Coliseum was being prepared for the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
. To accommodate Arizona's oppressive summer heat, as well as the ABC Sports television schedule, the game kicked off at 8:30 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. Eastern time.
ABC
- Keith JacksonKeith JacksonKeith Jackson is an American sportscaster, known for his long career with ABC Sports , his coverage of college football , his style of folksy, down-to-earth commentary, and his distinctive voice, with its deep cadence, and operatic tone considered "like Edward R...
/Lynn SwannLynn Swann-Collegiate:Swann attended the University of Southern California, where he was an All-American on the Trojans football team. He played under legendary coach John McKay, including the 1972 undefeated and national championship season. McKay said of Swann, "He has speed, soft hands, and grace." He... - Jim LampleyJim LampleyJames "Jim" Lampley is an American sportscaster, news anchor, movie producer, and restaurant owner. Lampley has anchored a record 14 Olympic Games U.S. television broadcasts, most recently the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China....
/Lee CorsoLee CorsoLeland "Lee" Corso is a sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN. He has been featured on ESPN's College GameDay program since its inception and he appeared annually as a commentator in EA Sports' NCAA Football through NCAA Football 11...
(Lee Corso was also an analyst for ESPN's USFL coverage) - Tim BrantTim BrantTim Brant is an American sportscaster and Vice President and Director of Sports for ABC 7 / WJLA-TV in Washington DC. He has spent nearly thirty years covering sports nationally for CBS and ABC....
/Lee GrosscupLee GrosscupClyde Lee Edward Grosscup is a former American football player and broadcaster.-Collegiate career:Grosscup was a quarterback for the Washington Huskies in 1955... - Bill FlemmingBill FlemmingWilliam Norman "Bill" Flemming was an American television sports journalist who was one of the original announcers for the ABC Sports show Wide World of Sports.-Early life:...
/Ron MixRon MixRonald Jack Mix , in Los Angeles, California was an American football player.Mix attended USC, and upon graduation played right tackle and guard for the American Football League's Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers and the NFL Oakland Raiders .- College career :A graduate of the University of Southern...
ABC used Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford
Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....
as the studio anchor and Mike Adamle
Mike Adamle
Michael David "Mike" Adamle is a sports personality and former National Football League player. He is best known as the co-host of American Gladiators series for seven years....
as a sideline reporter. Another play-by-play man that ABC used was Curt Gowdy
Curt Gowdy
Curtis Edward "Curt" Gowdy was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally-televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:The son of a manager for the Union Pacific railroad,...
.
ESPN
- Jim SimpsonJim Simpson (sportscaster)Jim Simpson is a retired American sportscaster, known for his smooth delivery as a play-by-play man and his versatility in covering many different sports. In 1997, he won the Sports Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2000 he was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters...
/Paul MaguirePaul MaguirePaul Leo Maguire is a former American football player and current television sportscaster.-Early sports career:Maguire attended Ursuline High School in Youngstown,Ohio and was recruited to play at The Citadel by the late Al Davis who was then an assistant coach and chief recruiter...
(Mondays) - Tom Kelly/Don HeinrichDon HeinrichDonald Alan Heinrich was an American collegiate and Professional Football quarterback. He played college football at the University of Washington, and also played professionally for the NFL's New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, and in the American Football League for the Oakland Raiders in...
(Saturdays)
ESPN used Tom Mees
Tom Mees
Thomas E. Mees at Southington, Connecticut, was an American sports broadcaster specializing in ice hockey.-Early life and career:...
as a studio anchor.
Local coverage
| Team | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) | Flagship station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Gamblers Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons... |
Bill Worrell | KHTV | |
| Michigan Panthers Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s.-Team history:The Michigan Panthers were named as a charter member of the United States Football League on May 11, 1982.... |
WKBD WKBD WKBD-TV, virtual channel 50 , is an owned and operated station of the CW Television Network, based in Detroit, Michigan. The station is owned and operated by the CBS Corporation, and is one-half of a duopoly with sister station WWJ-TV . Its studios and transmitters are located at 11 mile and... |
||
| New Jersey Generals New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983-85, winning 31 regular-season games and losing 25 while going 0-2 in postseason competition... |
WPIX WPIX WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network... |
||
| Pittsburgh Maulers Pittsburgh Maulers The Pittsburgh Maulers competed in the 1984 season of the United States Football League. Their most prominent player was first pick overall in the 1984 USFL draft, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska, who won the Heisman Trophy, collegiate football's most prestigious individual award.They were... |
John Sanders | KDKA KDKA-TV KDKA-TV, channel 2, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. KDKA-TV broadcasts from a transmitter located in the Perry North neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and its studios are located in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Center.... |
|
| Tampa Bay Bandits Tampa Bay Bandits The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League . They were a charter member of the USFL and folded along with the league after the 1985 season.... |
Randy Scott | WTOG |
Sources
External links
- http://www.usfl.info
- Google Search (timeline)
- United States Football League on ABC - 1982
- United States Football League on ESPN - 1982
- United States Football League on ABC - 1983
- United States Football League on ESPN - 1983
- United States Football League on ABC - 1984
- United States Football League on ESPN - 1984
- United States Football League on ABC - 1985
- United States Football League on ESPN - 1985
- United States Football League on ABC - 1986
- United States Football League on ESPN - 1986