|
BREAKERS
TRIVIA |
| -- |
| The
Breakers move from Boston to New Orleans was
made official on October 18, 1983. |
| -- |
| The
team's subsequent move from New Orleans to
Portland was approved by the league on November
13, 1984. |
| -- |
| While
in each case the team's relocation formally
required a vote of the ownership, in reality the
other USFL owners had little choice - it was in
both instances a case of allowing the franchise
to be moved, or have it disband. |
| -- |
| The
Breakers move to Portland was predicated on the
USFL owners' vote to change to a fall schedule
beginning in 1986. |
| -- |
| Rather
than compete head to head with the NFL's Saints,
owner Joseph Canizaro chose to relocate the team
to Portland, perhaps hoping that in an NFL-USFL
merger scenario he might shut down the Breakers
in order to become part of an ownership group in
another USFL city that was admitted into the
NFL. |
| -- |
| The
Breakers move to Portland for 1985 was joined by
the Philadelphia Stars, who relocated to
Baltimore, and by the Washington Federals, who
relocated to Orlando, Florida. |
| -- |
| The
Michigan Panthers, which also did not relish a
head to head competition with the NFL's Detroit
Lions, were merged into the Oakland Invaders. |
| -- |
| The
Oklahoma Outlaws and Arizona Wranglers were also
merged for 1985, in part due to the desire of
Arizona owner Dr. Ted Diethrich to get out of
the USFL altogether, as well as to potentially
have a strong franchise in the Phoenix market
should the USFL be successful in forcing a
merger between it and the NFL. |
| -- |
| Two
other USFL franchises, the Chicago Blitz and
Pittsburgh Maulers, folded after the 1984
season. |
| -- |
| ABC
was unhappy with the Breakers relocations.
Boston was a "top ten" media market in
1983, and moving to New Orleans was a
considerable step down in the league's potential
television exposure. |
| -- |
| The
move to Portland was even worse in ABC's eyes,
as Portland was at the time not seen as a strong
ABC market. |
