Donald Trump’s Defunct Pro Football Team The New Jersey Generals Could Return in USFL Reboot

After remaining dormant since the 1980s, the United States Football League is back. The new league plans to kick off in the spring of 2022, featuring at least eight teams and a broadcast deal with Fox Sports, who will be a minority partner.

For its reboot, the USFL has also secured rights to the league’s original team names, which includes the Houston Gamblers, Oakland Invaders and the New Jersey Generals, owned by a then young hotshot business mogul named Donald Trump.

Trump, who would go on to become the 45th president of the United States, was a key force in moving the spring football league to a fall schedule. That decision, geared to compete with the NFL, ultimately played a significant role in the demise of the USFL.

Founded in 1982, the USFL played three spring seasons, but ceased operations before its first fall schedule began. The USFL hopes it can find the spring success it once had, featuring stars such as Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly, Steve Young and Reggie White.

In recent years, multiple spring football leagues have failed to succeed. The Alliance of American Football League suspended operations eight weeks into its inaugural season in 2019. The XFL attempted a reboot in 2020, but was marred by the Covid-19 pandemic, and has discussed trying again in 2022 behind the leadership of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and business partner Dany Garcia.