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60-719: Amid financial struggles following the 1984 season, the team was merged with the Oakland Invaders in 1985, where they would operate under the Invaders name. The Panthers won the inaugural USFL Championship, 24–22 over the Philadelphia Stars . The Michigan Panthers were named as a charter member of the United States Football League (USFL) on May 11, 1982. A. Alfred Taubman , one of the nation's leading real estate developers, headed

120-439: A league franchise system is used and the teams are overwhelmingly privately owned. Owners who move a team generally do so seeking better profits, facilities, fan support, or a combination of these. Unlike most professional sport systems worldwide, North America does not have comprehensive governing bodies whose authority extends from the amateur to the highest levels of a given sport. North American sports generally do not operate

180-646: A USFL-record crowd of 60,237. The Panthers' decisive 37–21 victory vaulted them to the inaugural USFL championship game in Denver, Colorado . On July 17, 1983, the Panthers captured the USFL's first championship with a 24–22 win over the Atlantic Division champion Philadelphia Stars . QB Bobby Hebert hit WR Anthony Carter on a 48-yard touchdown strike with 3:11 left in the fourth quarter for what proved to be

240-467: A fan base with little tolerance for losing. Taubman felt like the move was a foregone conclusion. As a result, after the merger between the Oakland Invaders and the Oklahoma Outlaws collapsed, Taubman quietly approached Invaders owner Tad Taube about a possible merger with his Panthers. When the league owners met to vote on moving to the fall, Taubman sent his son, Robert, with a message for

300-594: A few key players with NFL experience. Tackle Ray Pinney and Tyrone McGriff had played for the Super Bowl Pittsburgh Steelers teams. Linebacker John Corker had played three seasons for the Houston Oilers . The Panthers also landed three former Cleveland Browns starters in running back Cleo Miller , defensive back Oliver Davis , and quarterback Mark Miller . The team also had former All-Pro punter Bob Grupp , who had played for

360-401: A few teams to move out of crowded or unprofitable markets: Nippon Professional Baseball is run in similar fashion to MLB and has moved several franchises out of crowded markets. Moves also happened when the teams changed ownership (which also sometimes involved changing the team name). Football club moves were frequent in the 1980s and 1990s. South Korea has three national tiers, but as in

420-462: A larger market and/or more affordable facilities, as frequently, there are only large complexes available with a necessity to groundshare with a larger club. The practice is considered anathema . The first move of a first division football team was in 2010. Grêmio Barueri moved to Presidente Prudente , becoming Grêmio Prudente , only to return as Grêmio Barueri in the middle of 2011. Esporte Clube Dom Pedro II , named after Pedro II of Brazil

480-580: A major league due to playoff structure and ease of scheduling. As of 2024 , each of the major leagues has 30 or 32 franchises. The National Hockey League (NHL) has expanded to 32 teams, with the Vegas Golden Knights having become the league's 31st team in 2017 and the Seattle Kraken becoming the 32nd team in 2021. In past decades, aspiring owners whose overtures had been rejected by the established leagues would respond by forming

540-616: A national level, and through that process, there have been team moves, mergers and closures in both leagues. The clubs are owned by members, not privately, but the North American franchise model exists, which means entry to the league is restricted. The hybrid model has meant that the leading promoter of moving is the league itself, trying to grow the football code by encouraging poorly performing clubs to move interstate. The two most significant relocations in Australian history were

600-627: A new club represents an existing one that has moved or an entirely separate new entity. Bob Grupp Robert William Grupp (born May 8, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a punter for three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was chosen for the Pro Bowl after the 1979 season . Prior to his career in professional football, Grupp

660-543: A relegation system but its teams have some territorial rights recognized, perhaps due to U.S. influence as many league matches are aired in the U.S., where only traditional top-flight teams are perceived to most effectively reach the immigrant fan-base. In Peru several teams have had to use already built large stadiums, including ones in the interior of the country, to be able to participate in Peruvian Primera División ; this includes several teams from

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720-432: A rival league achieve at least some of these goals in the last half of the 20th century. Baseball's proposed Continental League did not play a game, but only because Major League Baseball (MLB) responded to the proposal by adding teams in some of the new league's proposed cities. The American Basketball Association (ABA) and World Hockey Association (WHA) each succeeded in getting some of their franchises accepted into

780-424: A rival league in hopes that the existing major league would eventually agree to a merger ; the new league would attain major league status in its own right; or the established league was compelled to expand. The 1960s American Football League (AFL) is perhaps the most recent example of a successful rival league, having achieved each of the three goals listed above in reverse order. However, all major sports have had

840-563: A six-game winning streak. Then, on May 23, they and the Birmingham Stallions were tied 20–20 in the fourth quarter. Michigan would have had the lead, but the extra point attempt was blocked. The game went into overtime and was won by Birmingham thanks to a 46-yard field goal by Stallions placekicker Scott Norwood . The Panthers would bounce back with a 42–7 thrashing of the stellar Tampa Bay Bandits , coached by future Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier . The additions on

900-411: A system of promotion and relegation in which poorly performing teams are replaced with teams that do well in lower-level leagues. A city wishing to get a team in a major professional sports league can wait for the league to expand and award new franchises . However, such expansions are infrequent, and generally limited to a narrow window in time. Many current owners believe 32 is the optimal size for

960-545: A team based in Mok-dong , Seoul , which moved to Anyang, Gyeonggi in 2005 and became Anyang Halla . In South Africa most football clubs are privately owned, and club moves are relatively common. Several clubs, including top division Premier Soccer League clubs have moved and taken on new identities. There are many other cases of South African moves . The ease of selling and buying of club licences make moves common and sometimes difficult to determine what determines whether

1020-573: A year in Americana, the club's administrator, Sony Sports, announced the team's return to Guaratinguetá to compete in the 2012 Campeonato Paulista and other competitions, as Americana city and its main stadium, Estádio Décio Vitta was not able to support the club and the city's club, Rio Branco , and also because most of the supports of the club live in Guaratinguetá. In other sports, such as volleyball , basketball or futsal , moving

1080-696: Is in debt and needs an adequate population for financial support or because another city offers a bigger local market or a more financially lucrative stadium/arena deal. Governments may offer lucrative deals to team owners to attract or retain a team. For example, to attract the NFL's Cleveland Browns in 1995, the state of Maryland agreed to build a new stadium in Baltimore and allow the team to use it rent-free and keep all parking, advertising and concession revenue. (This move proved so unpopular in Cleveland that

1140-519: Is more common, although it does not occur frequently. In Colombia historic teams from first division are rarely moved, but newer teams created in second division are often moved from city to city looking for a responding fan base. Hazard United , founded in 1985 in May Pen , moved in 2001 to Clarendon and renamed itself Clarendon United . JFF regulations stipulated that each club have stands to seat at least 1,500, which Clarendon lacked. So

1200-559: Is often controversial. Opponents criticize owners for leaving behind faithful fans and governments for spending millions of dollars of tax money on attracting teams. However, since sports teams in the United States are generally treated like any other business under antitrust law, there is little sports leagues can do to prevent teams from flocking to the highest bidders (for instance, the Los Angeles Rams filed suit when

1260-506: Is run like European football leagues. Club moves are also common when an amateur or semiprofessional club tries to acquire its own facilities to become a professional club, and no money and/or space is available to build their own in a long-established location. Team moves in China are very common. Although China has a European-style promotion and relegation league system, the teams themselves are North American-style franchises , which means

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1320-811: The Oakland Invaders (33–27); Mar. 27 at the Washington Federals (22–16 in OT) and April 4 at home to the Denver Gold (29–21). Their slow start was attributed mostly due to a very porous offensive line that struggled to create holes or time for their offensive stars. Management addressed the issue by signing a bevy of experienced offensive linemen in OT Ray Pinney ( Pittsburgh Steelers ), OG Tyrone McGriff ( Pittsburgh Steelers ) and OG Thom Dornbrook ( NY Giants ). Dornbrook and McGriff would both make USFL all-league teams in 1983. The Panthers had

1380-549: The Phoenix Coyotes by siding with the NHL, which claimed that it had final authority over franchise moves. Newer sports leagues tend to have more transient franchises than more established, "major" leagues, but in the mid-1990s, several NFL and NHL teams moved to other cities, and the threat of a move pushed cities with major-league teams in any sport to build new stadiums and arenas using taxpayer money. The trend continued in

1440-822: The University of Michigan , Michigan State , Eastern Michigan , Central Michigan and Western Michigan . The Panthers used this draft to select two placekickers. One was Novo Bojovic , and the other was Michigan's Ali Haji-Sheikh . Sheikh spurned the Panthers to sign with the New York Giants of the NFL. Michigan made a splash in signing some of the top young NCAA prospects in 1983 in Michigan WR Anthony Carter , Tulsa RB Ken Lacy , Wisconsin SS David Greenwood and QB Bobby Hebert of Northwestern State (La.). The Panthers also had

1500-633: The 2000s, when three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams moved in a seven-year span after there were no moves at all in the 16 years before it. Critics referred to the movement of teams to the highest-bidding city as "franchise free agency." The two major professional sporting leagues in Australia are the Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL). Both competitions were originally based in one city ( Melbourne and Sydney respectively) and expanded to

1560-579: The European system of professional sports league organization . The practice is considered anathema . In most European sports, teams can be relegated from their current league to a lower one or promoted to the one above. Team moves in Latin America occur very rarely for the established teams with established bases. Smaller teams, either small team from large agglomerations or provincial teams with little or no fan base frequently move in search of

1620-628: The Michigan Panthers. The USFL's first collegiate draft was held on January 4, 1983. The Panthers selected Wisconsin SS David Greenwood with their first round (10th overall) selection. They also tabbed Michigan WR Anthony Carter in the USFL Territorial Draft – a process whereby USFL teams could protect up to 25 graduating seniors from a series of local universities. The Panthers had territorial rights to

1680-602: The NFL's Kansas City Chiefs . However, Grupp had been a one-season wonder in Kansas City, and after a few inconsistent weeks, he was released, and safety David Greenwood did double duty taking over as the team's punter. Future Buffalo Bills linebacker and children's book author Ray Bentley was also a Michigan Panther. Michigan held its first training camp at City Island Stadium in Daytona Beach, Florida , sifting through over 75 players. On Monday, March 7, 1983;

1740-404: The NFL. It came at a high price, however; they spent $ 6 million during the season—three times what USFL founder David Dixon recommended that a team spend in a single season. The Panthers were expected to roll to another Central Division title in 1984. Due to expansion, they were now in a Central Division with three expansion teams and a Blitz squad that had swapped nearly all of its players with

1800-470: The North American system, there was initially no promotion or relegation between them. There were three professional football clubs Ilhwa Chunma (currently Seongnam FC ), LG Cheetahs (currently FC Seoul ), Yukong Elephants (currently Jeju United ) in Seoul by 1995. However, due to K League's decentralization policy , these three clubs were forced to move to other cities in 1996, changing their name in

1860-569: The Panthers opened the season with a 9–7 win over the Birmingham Stallions at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama . This was the first professional football game ever broadcast on ESPN . Serbian kicker (via Central Michigan) Novo Bojovic kicked the winning field goal from 48 yards out in the waning moments. The Panthers then dropped their next four contests, losing on March 12 to the Tampa Bay Bandits (19–7); Mar. 19 at home to

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1920-450: The average salary in each of the big four leagues is now well in excess of $ 1 million per season. Under present market and financial conditions, any serious attempt to form a rival league in the early 21st century would likely require hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars in investment and initial losses, and even if such resources were made available the upstart league's success would be far from guaranteed, as evidenced by

1980-515: The capital, Lima , who have not been able to establish fanbases in their districts due to the required moves. Team moves in Asia are done according to the type of sport played and/or the predominant style of league organization, as well as individual economic circumstances. For instance, in Japan there is a difference between Nippon Professional Baseball which is run like MLB , and the J.League which

2040-408: The commissioner—if the teams voted to move to the fall, the Panthers would merge with the Invaders, with the Invaders as the surviving team. When the vote to play in the fall passed, the Panthers and Invaders announced their merger, with Taubman as majority owner of the Invaders. Bolstered by a number of Panthers players, the Invaders made it all the way to the 1984 USFL Championship Game. They lost to

2100-466: The deciding score. Hebert was named MVP of the game, throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns. The Panthers' late season surge (counting the playoffs, they went 13–2 to finish the season) was fueled by the addition of NFL-comparable talent at several positions. Indeed, they were one of three USFL teams, along with the Stars and Blitz, that observers believed could have made a good account of themselves in

2160-474: The established leagues, which had both unsuccessfully attempted to cause their upstart rivals to fold outright by adding more teams. However, the upstart leagues owed their success in large part to the reluctance of owners in the established leagues to devote the majority of their revenues to player salaries and also to sports leagues' former reliance primarily on gate receipts for revenue. Under those conditions, an ambitious rival could often afford to lure away

2220-507: The failure of the WWF / NBC -backed XFL in 2001 and the UFL from 2009 to 2012. The current major leagues have established lucrative relationships with all of the major media outlets in the United States, who subsidize the league's operations because their established fame ensures strong ratings ; the networks are far less willing to provide such coverage to an unproven upstart league, often requiring

2280-546: The fall, meaning that they would have had to play home games on Wednesdays or Thursdays. However, Taubman believed the Panthers would not have been able to get a lease for the Silverdome in the fall. Even before then, a study of market conditions concluded that despite having a decent following by USFL standards, the Panthers would have been "better off moving out of the Michigan market" due to exorbitant advertising rates and

2340-524: The game at 21 with 52 seconds remaining. The Panthers had chances to win the game in both the first and second overtimes, but normally reliable kicker Novo Bojovic missed field goals each time. Finally, in the third overtime, rookie Mel Gray (who would later play for the Detroit Lions ) ran 24 yards to give LA a 27–21 victory, ending pro football's longest day after 93 minutes and 33 seconds of play time. (Gray's touchdown would prove to be painful for

2400-638: The interstate relocations of the South Melbourne Football Club to Sydney (1983:963 kilometres (598 mi)) and the Fitzroy Football Club's move of playing operations to Brisbane (1996: 1,669 kilometres (1,037 mi)), both ambitious moves due also to crossing the cultural divide known as the Barassi Line . In Europe, moves are very rare because of the different relationship between clubs and their league in

2460-542: The last-place Arizona Wranglers . They initially didn't disappoint, sweeping their first six games. However, in the sixth game, a win over the expansion San Antonio Gunslingers , star receiver Anthony Carter broke his arm and was lost for the season. Without their chief offensive weapon the Panthers promptly went into a tailspin, losing eight of their next ten games (the Panthers' only wins in this stretch both came in overtime) to sink to an 8–8 record. Needing to win their last two games against Oklahoma and Chicago just to make

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2520-472: The league's re-launch in the spring of 2022. (1) – Longest game in professional football history. Relocation of professional sports teams Relocation of professional sports teams occurs when a team owner moves a team, generally from one metropolitan area to another, but occasionally between municipalities in the same conurbation . The practice is most common in North America , where

2580-732: The move was treated as the Baltimore Ravens being awarded an expansion franchise, and the Browns name and their official lineage would remain in Cleveland for a "reactivated" team that rejoined the NFL three years later .) A little more than a decade earlier, the Baltimore Colts left for Indianapolis (NFL owners voted to give Colts owner Robert Irsay permission to move his franchise to the city of his choosing after no satisfactory stadium would be built). Moving sports teams

2640-461: The now-Baltimore Stars in a rematch of sorts of the 1983 title game. It would be the last down that the merged team would play. After the USFL received only $ 3 in its antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, on which it had staked its survival, the league suspended operations and never returned. The league's abandonment of the Detroit market was a major factor behind the adverse jury award. Even before

2700-676: The offensive line, combined with installing rookie Bobby Hebert as quarterback, helped the Panthers win 11 of their next 13 contests to finish with a 12–6 record. They actually tied the Chicago Blitz for the best record in the Central Division, but were awarded the division title after sweeping the Blitz in the regular season. In the playoffs, the Panthers hosted the Western Division champion Oakland Invaders before

2760-411: The other NFL owners initially blocked their move to St. Louis, which caused the NFL to back down and allow the move to proceed). Major League Baseball, unique among the major professional sports leagues, has an exemption from antitrust laws won by a Supreme Court decision but nonetheless has allowed several teams to change cities. Also recently, courts denied the attempted move of the team then known as

2820-564: The ownership group that included Judge Peter B. Spivak and Max M. Fisher . The Panthers named Jim Spavital , general manager of the Canadian Football League 's Saskatchewan Roughriders , as their General Manager on August 26, 1982. Michigan then hired Jim Stanley as their Head Coach on November 18, 1982, after George Perles decided to coach at Michigan State . Stanley brought a wealth of coaching experience, with stops at SMU , UTEP , Oklahoma State , Navy , and on

2880-457: The playoffs once in a non-strike year since winning their last league title in 1957. However, Taubman knew that he wouldn't have even begun to be able to go head-to-head with the Lions even if he'd been inclined to do so. According to personnel director Mike Keller, the only colleges within reasonable driving distance of Detroit would not even consider opening their doors to a Panthers team playing in

2940-485: The playoffs, Michigan did just that, finishing 10–8. The first-round playoff game against the Los Angeles Express (in a less-than-tenth-filled Los Angeles Coliseum ) turned out to be longest professional football game in history. The Panthers took a 21–13 lead in the fourth quarter, only to have future Hall of Famer Steve Young throw a touchdown pass, then personally score the two-point conversion to tie

3000-455: The process. These moves are done under the accord that if any of these teams build a football specific stadium in Seoul, they can return there, of which two clubs took advantage of. As a result, the following moves occurred: In South Korean major professional sports such as Korea Professional Baseball , Korean Basketball League , V-League , moves were common. In ice hockey, Mando Winia were

3060-447: The professional level with the CFL 's Winnipeg Blue Bombers , and NFL's New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons , mainly as an assistant coach. Stanley would be the club's only head coach. The coaching staff was rounded out by Larry Coyer , Pete Rodriguez , and Dick Roach (Defensive coaches). George Dickson, Bob Leahy, and Kent Stephenson were the offensive coaches. The Pontiac Silverdome

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3120-422: The sport's top players with promises of better pay, in hopes of giving the new league immediate respect and credibility from fans. Today, however, established leagues derive a large portion of their revenue from lucrative television contracts that would not be offered to an untested rival. Also, the activism of players' unions has resulted in the established leagues paying a majority of their revenues to players, thus

3180-657: The team moved again, to St. Catherine and began to use the Ferdi Neita Sports Complex . Initially, Clarendon and the St. Catherine football club agreed to share the stadium. In 2002, St. Catherine suggested Clarendon change its affiliation to become a St. Catherine team, as the club's name was not locally identifiable and the club itself was only slowly gaining followers. Instead, Clarendon moved in 2003 to Portmore and renamed itself Portmore United . The club has since won four Premier League titles. Liga MX has

3240-420: The teams are overwhelmingly privately owned and therefore more prone to moving. Owners who move a team generally do so seeking better profits, facilities, fan support, or a combination of these. There are neither rules regarding moves nor many established fan bases, outside a handful of top teams. The J.League is run similarly to European football leagues. In contrast to the baseball league it has allowed only

3300-409: The trial, the Invaders suspended operations after Taubman pulled out altogether. The A-11 Football League (A11FL), a planned spring football league which had intended to start play in 2015, had announced its intention to revive the Michigan Panthers for one of its charter franchises. On November 22, 2021, a new version of the USFL announced that the Michigan Panthers would be one of eight teams in

3360-418: The upstart league to pay the network for those leagues to be covered. Therefore, as long as leagues choose not to expand and/or reject a city's application, the only realistic recourse is to convince the owner(s) of an existing team to move it (or convince a prospective owner to purchase a team with the intent of moving it). Owners usually move teams because of weak fan support or because the team organization

3420-411: The young star—the force of the tackle at the end of the play broke his arm.) It turned out to be the Panthers' last game. After the 1984 season was over USFL owners, largely under the influence of New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump and Chicago franchise owner Eddie Einhorn began talking seriously about moving to a fall schedule in 1986. While the Panthers had developed a loyal following, Taubman

3480-486: Was a strong believer in the original spring football concept. He also had no desire to compete with the Detroit Lions . Not only was he a decades-long Lions fan, but he was a longtime friend of Lions owner William Clay Ford . The Panthers had been far more successful on the field than the Lions; at the time of the USFL's founding, the Lions had tallied only three winning seasons since the NFL-AFL merger , and had only made

3540-740: Was founded on February 22, 1996, in Guará . The club moved to Núcleo Bandeirante in 2009, and it was renamed to Esporte Clube Dom Pedro Bandeirante . On November 1, 2016, after achieving promotion back to the first division of the Campeonato Brasiliense , the club changed its name to Real Futebol Clube and moved to Brasília . Ahead of the 2020 campaign, the club again changed name to Real Brasília Futebol Clube . Guaratinguetá Futebol on October 15, 2010 announced its move from Guaratinguetá to Americana , and their change of name to Americana Futebol . On November 28, 2011, after more than

3600-482: Was the home of the Panthers. In the 1980s, most NFL teams did not have complete schedule control over their stadiums, which became common practice in the aftermath of the original USFL, so the Detroit Lions could not have blocked the Panthers (publicly, the Lions avoided discussion of the USFL). C. Bruce Martin, the ideologue behind Godstock, was the first male cheerleader for a professional football team when he cheered for

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