Not to mention the USFL in the 80's. They filed and actually won an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, but were awarded $3 in damages (that's right, 3 dollars). Carrying a debt of $160 million that $3 didn't go very far, and the league folded after a couple of years. Trump was one of the owners IIRC USFL would have been fine if they had stuck to a spring schedule. as soon as they decided to go heads up with the NFL in the fall, they were screwed No, the USFL would not have been fine. Practically all of the USFL franchises were hemorraging money because of the huge contracts they were playing their marquee players, and the USFL had a TON of talent. Whether the games were in the spring or fall, they were effectively in direct competition with the NFL from the get go. I think the USFL strategy all along was to eventually go to a fall schedule while pursuing the antitrust suit, and try to win some of the NFL's TV rights to stop the bleeding. I don't know the details of Cuban's proposed league, but to me it seems like a losing bet if history is any guide.