NEW YORK -- Holding its inaugural news conference just six blocks from the headquarters of the U.S. Football League, the International Football League Thursday announced plans for another spring football venture beginning in 1984.
The IFL introduced its 12 franchise owners, each of whom had to put up $2 million in up-front money. Jerry Saperstein, chairman of the league's executive committee, said expansion plans call for four teams in Japan and four in Australia by 1985.
The initial franchises are proposed for Florida, either Miami or Fort Lauderdale, Honolulu, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, the San Francisco Bay area and Tennessee. Teams will be stocked from free agents and a college player draft.
The 12-team USFL, bolstered by two-year contracts with ABC and ESPN, began its first year of play in March, with the league championship game slated for July 17 in Denver.
Saperstein, whose father, Abe, created the Harlem Globetrotters, said the IFL is financially secure for its initial season.
'We hope to make money right away, but realistically, we probably won't,' he said. 'We're perfectly well financed to sustain losses. We are currently negotiating with several networks and we remain confident there's a place for our exciting brand of football.'
Former Los Angeles Rams coach Ray Malavasi, listed as a 'football consultant' to the IFL, said the new league has won him over.
'When I first heard about the idea, I was very skeptical,' said Malavasi, 'but when I saw the type of people involved I became very confident. I think we have a very viable product to bring to the American people.' Although the IFL admits its rules will not differ markedly from the USFL, at least one executive is confident about the league's position in the '84 marketplace.
'We do not profess from conception that we will offer the kinds of players found in the NFL, but it won't take us long to get up to or better the level shown in the USFL,' said Paul Zarynoff, co-owner of the proposed Tennessee franchise, to be located in either Nashville or Memphis. 'First we must develop a strong base of our 12 American franchises -- then we will develop our international franchises.
'We may go for a two-point conversion rule ... possibly electronic review of officials. I am prepared with the financial resources to take a beating but I'll never be mentally prepared for failure. You must be confident.'
Alex Belle, credited as the league's founder, said he first thought of the IFL in the late '70s, but was forced to abandon the concept because of the economy.
'We found ourself with a recession as severe as any since World War II,' said Belle, a successful California real estate developer. 'We decided to delay our kickoff until the economy came around.'
Zarynoff is president of a company that scientifically manufactures bait: he claims the IFL is no fish story.
'There will be a kickoff next spring,' he said. 'Even if I have to kick it myself.'
