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Show CspQrts prQbe Birth of a new league At least 13 maverick millionaires mil-lionaires representing 13 cities have banded together togeth-er to form the United States Football League, a new pro loop that hopes to lure seemingly insatiable gridiron gridi-ron fans, with its spring-summer spring-summer schedule starting next year. In order to insure the league's survival, the initial 13 franchise holders (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Phila-delphia, Tampa, Washington, Washing-ton, D.C., Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego) were asked to ante up a total of more than $100 million. According to one prospective pro-spective owner who requested anonymity, the franchise holders have the resources to attract blue-chip blue-chip athletes from the collegiate col-legiate and pro ranks. "We expect to be competitive com-petitive in every aspect with the National Football League, including the signing sign-ing of top athletes, not just lower- or- middle round college col-lege players, as has been erroneously reported," says the would-be owner. "We hope to attract these players with the opportunity to play close to their homes. We will have a territorial rights draft, as opposed to an NFL-type draft. This makes it more lucrative when it comes to getting a network TV contract con-tract and attracting fans." The same person also says that the league is pledged to signing name coaches only, in order to gain credibility. According to one report, three ex-pro coaches have been approached: Chuck Fairbanks (Patriots), Hank Stram (Chiefs, Saints) and Red Miller (Broncos) . The USFL is still looking to sign a contract with a major television network, but the owners are confident confi-dent that once the rosters are stocked with top-name athletes, the networks will warm to the league. How can these daring men be so sure that they will get a network deal even with top-name stars? The anonymous franchise owner claimed that a recent survey by Frank Magid Associates, a specialized spe-cialized TV consulting firm, found that telecasts of the new league's games would attract 82 percent of those people who watch NFL football. |