Minor League Football System (1990)
Tombstone
Born: 1990 – The Seattle Express relocate to Tacoma, WA
Folded: September 7, 1990
First Game: July 14, 1990 (L 26-14 @ Colorado Springs Spirit)
Last Game: September 1, 1990 (L 14-7 vs. Fresno Bandits)
MLFS Championships: None
Stadia
The Tacoma Dome
Opened: 1983
Stadium Bowl
Opened: 1910
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owners:
- 1990: Worth Skinner
- 1990: Minor League Football System
Background
Has any other team ever been sunk by an ill-conceived controlled scrimmage? That may be the case with the semi-pro Tacoma Express of the short-lived Minor League Football System (MLFS).
Owner Worth Skinner, a retired contractor from Monroe, Washington, spent $150,000 to own one of the twelve original franchises in the MLFS in 1989. His Seattle Express played out of Snohomish, Washington and posted a dreadful 1-10 record in the league’s debut campaign. Early in 1990, Skinner announced plans to move the team to the 19,000-seat Tacoma Dome with a resulting name change. It was a ballsy move for a league where most teams played out of high school or small college football stadiums.
Exhibition against Moscow Bears
The Express’ debut at the Tacoma Dome was a pre-season exhibition contest against the Moscow Bears, a group of undersized Soviet rugby and track and field athletes working under the tutelage of former Denver Broncos head coach John Ralston. The game was little more than a limited scrimmage. The Express agreed not to blitz, stunt or play man-to-man coverage on defense. On offense, the Americans deleted traps, counters and reverses from their playbooks. The clock ran continuously, soccer-style, so that the exhibition would conclude after one hour of play.
The Express thumped the Soviets 61-0. Balboa vs. Drago it was not, but Express officials charged $22.50 per ticket. Tacoma’s gridiron enthusiasts knew a turkey when they saw it and steered well clear. The Moscow Bears exhibition drew a puny announced crowd of 1,303, more than half of whom were season ticket depositors who got in for free.
Owner Abandons Team
Less than a week later, team owner Worth Skinner was out of the picture, either busted or disgusted by the opening night flop at the Dome. The Express told league officials they couldn’t foot the bill for the team’s season opening road game against the Colorado Springs Spirit. The league took over operations of the Express and funded a four-game season opening road trip through Colorado, Oklahoma and California. The Express finally returned to Washington for their home opener on August 11, 1990, nearly six weeks after the Soviet exhibition. In the meantime, MLFS moved the Express out of the relatively pricey Tacoma Dome and into the Stadium Bowl high school football stadium.
Demise
The Express beat the California Outlaws 17-10 at the Stadium Bowl on August 11, 1990. It would prove to be the franchise’s only win in Tacoma. After four consecutive home games, Tacoma’s record stood at 1-7 on September 1, 1990. Staring down the expense of road trips to California, Colorado and Pennsylvania over the next four weeks, the Minor League Football System folded the Express on September 7, 1990 and forfeited the team’s final four regular season games.
The Minor League Football System itself folded after the 1990 season.
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