NEW YORK -- Donald Trump, owner of the New Jersey Generals of the U.S. Football League, said today his league's $1.32 billion antitrust suit against the National Football League will crack 'one of the great monopolies in this country.'
Trump, the force behind the league's impending move to a fall season, insisted the actions of the NFL have made it unworkable for a competing league to exist.
'We've done as well as we can in the spring,' Trump said. 'But we can't get the necessary monies to make it a viable enterprise.
'The networks are petrified of the the NFL. It's one of the great monopolies in this country. They've got the networks, they've got the stadiums and it's all very contrived.'
Trump was joined at the news conference by attorney Roy Cohn. USFL commissioner Chet Simmons and Trump's fellow owners are gathering at Amelia Island, Fla., Friday to discuss plans for the 1985 season. Lack of a TV deal with a major network may force the league to abandon its switch to a fall schedule.
The suit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Judge Peter Leisure will hear the case but no date has been set. The 28 NFL clubs and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle were named defendants. Cohn said he soon expects the three major networks -- CBS, ABC, NBC -- to be named as well.
'We we will have no comment until we have a chance to review the legal papers,' an NFL spokesman said. 'It was inevitable they were going to file suit. It was clear that was part of their game since day one. It's nothing new.'
The USFL has charged in the 39-page complaint that the NFL guilty of antitrust violations in the areas of player contracts, television, stadium availability, scheduling and media relations.
The USFL's contract with ABC has expired. The network said it will negotiate programming for a spring schedule but not a fall schedule. The ESPN cable outlet signed a three-season agreement with the USFL beginning in the spring of 1985.
The USFL started out as a spring league in 1983 but voted after its second season to move to a fall schedule beginning in 1986. The suit stated that the fledgling league has lost $100 million in its two seasons.
The suit seeks actual damages of $440 million. Under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, if the USFL wins the suit the amount of money awarded is tripled, bringing the figure to $1.32 billion.
In addition to money, the suit asks the court to divide the 28 NFL teams into two separate competing 14-team leagues with each league limited to maintaining a network television contract with only one of three major TV networks.
If the court refuses that request, the suit asks the NFL or its clubs be able to maintain an agreement with only two of the three major TV networks.
As part of its suit, the USFL points to the formation by the NFL of a 'USFL Committee.' The USFL claims the committee was designed as a means of 'inhibiting competition by the USFL as a competitive league.' Cohn suggested someone within the NFL informed the rival league of the presence of the committee.
'There's a limit to which you can use power to stifle competition,' Cohn said.
Trump said his league was not using the suit as leverage to force the NFL to merge with the USFL or absorb some of its teams.
'It would be ridiculous to consider a merger now,' he said. 'We're looking for our own league, to play our own games.'
The owner said he does not want to address the possibility of the USFL folding should it lose the suit.
'The USFL has tremendous spirit and will survive,' he said. 'But thank heavens we have owners who have other businesses.
'We expect to be around for many years. I can tell you from personal knowledge the NFL is not only concerned but petrified.'
The USFL, which now consists of 18 teams, was formed in 1982 as a 12-team league but has undergone several ownership changes as it fights to survive.
Seven of the 12 original franchises changed hands before the end of this past season and majority interests in the Memphis and Houston expansion franchises also have changed. Several other franchises plan to consolidate or fold before the 1985 season.
