THE USFL: FLASH IN THE PAN OR HERE TO STAY?
The upstart USFL has reached the mid-point of their inaugural season and there is a lot to be excited about. TV ratings have been strong, attendance in most locations has also exceeded expectations, the quality of play has been better than advertised, and fans seem to be enjoying it. The best news? That the weather is going to continue to get better, which should help both the game on the field and the crowds in the stands.
Sure, as with all new ventures, all is not rosy. We are beginning to see injuries add up, which, with somewhat shallower benches than in the NFL, could lead to a decline in the quality of play across the league. There are also some cities where the league has not been embraced. Attendance is predictably lagging in those cities with losing teams, such as Washington, Arizona, and Oakland. Attendance never really materialized at all in LA, which looks like a significant issue for the league moving forward.
While the league’s revenue sharing policy will help all these lower attendance cities establish themselves, having a poor draw in the league’s second largest market is not something to be dismissed. There are stadium issues in Boston, lease concerns in Chicago and LA, and no one is really sure what will happen in places like Birmingham or Tampa once the temperatures start to get a little uncomfortable for mid-afternoon games.
But, all things considered, the USFL is looking pretty solid. The league is already in the process of reviewing expansion applications, with the entry fees that new teams bring in, and is expected to announce between 2-6 new franchises for the 1984 season. There is also expected to be an increase in NFL poaching, particularly of 1983 NFL Draft Picks, as the league has instituted a flexible salary cap for 1984 in which teams can exclude up to 3 players per squad from the salary cap consideration, a rule almost certainly pushed for by the New Jersey Generals after their signing of Herschel Walker, but one which may benefit others as disgruntled NFL vets and displeased rookies hope to get something like NFL money to jump to the USFL.
The other big item on the agenda for the USFL is to potentially renegotiate their TV contracts with ABC and ESPN. With higher than anticipated viewership and the potential to add more teams in 1984 it might be possible for the USFL to renegotiate their deal and to provide more flexibility in the event that a struggling team in LA or Chicago, for example, might be able to relocate without causing major ripples in the TV revenue. It seems that the league’s stronger teams are doing all they can to ensure that there is stability from one year to the next, but attendance will not be ignorable for long.
But, we still have 8 weeks left to the regular season, and while the league may be second guessing its decision to only allow 4 teams in the playoffs, the excitement about USFL football, and the potential for mid-summer playoff football seems to be there. And who is to blame the public for wanting more football?