San Antonio Riders

World League of American Football (1991-1992)

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San Antonio Riders
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Background

The National Football League announced plans to back a developmental spring football league in 1989.  The defunct United States Football League (USFL) popularized (to a degree) the concept of springtime football from 1983 to 1985, before flaming out in a burst of hubris, red ink and failed anti-trust litigation against the NFL. The NFL’s spring concept, run by long-time Dallas Cowboys exec Tex Schramm, would place spring football in second-tier U.S. markets as well as large European cities, Montreal and possibly Mexico City.

Under Schramm’s direction, the World League of American Football (WLAF) began to announce member cities in the spring of 1990, despite the fact that local ownership had yet to be firmed up in each market.  The WLAF announced San Antonio, Texas on April 28th, 1990.

Ownership

The league struggled to locate ownership in some cities. But in San Antonio there were two competing bidders. Gavin Maloof, former President of the NBA’s Houston Rockets and son of the late New Mexico beer and banking baron George Maloof, Sr., headed one bid. San Antonio attorney Larry Benson, younger brother of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, headed the other bid, a 15-member syndicate called Texas Football, Inc. which also included Dallas Cowboys coaching legend Tom Landry and his son, Tom Jr.

Schramm was fired by NFL officials in October 1990 and replaced by Minnesota Vikings executive Mike Lynn, a strong proponent of local ownership for WLAF clubs.  The San Antonio franchise went to Benson’s group in mid-November 1990, while Maloof ended up with the WLAF’s Birmingham franchise.  Benson became majority owner and managing partner with a 45% stake in the club.  In addition to Benson’s group of 15 individual investors, two local corporate investors – Valero Energy Corp. and the United States Automobile Association – stepped up and bought 10% ownership stakes in Texas Football, Inc.

Stadium Issues

Stadium considerations fueled the competing interests for the San Antonio market rights.  Construction crews broke ground on the 65,000-seat Alamodome in November 1990 and the building projected to open in time for the WLAF’s third spring season in 1993.  In the meantime, the Riders intended to play at at Alamo Stadium, a 50-year old Works Progress Administration facility managed by the San Antonio School District (SASD).  Alamo seated only 23,000 and had played host to San Antonio’s previous failed pro football franchises, the San Antonio Wings of the World Football League (1975) and the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL (1984-1985).

The Riders had a challenging relationship with the SASD from the start.  The district blocked the sale of beer or display of beer advertising at WLAF games.  In return, Riders ownership scrapped plans to fund $235,000 in renovations to the building.  In June 1991, SASD officials announced plans for a 65% rent increase on the Riders for the 1992 season, raising the per-game rate from the $12,000/game paid in 1991 to an estimated $19,600/game for the 1992 season.  The relationship would last for only one season.

1991 Season

WLAF player salaries were strictly controlled.  On the low end, kickers earned $15,000 for the 1991 season, while quarterbacks earned a base salary of $25,000. All other positional players earned a $20,000 base plus incentives. The Riders featured a handful of NFL vets, the most experienced being seven-year veteran cornerback Bobby Humphery formerly of the New York Jets.  But the WLAF was not a league for aging players on the back side of 28, as NFL competitors such as the WFL and USFL had often been. Most Riders were former late round draft picks, developmental squad players and training camp cuts, still with youth in their favor and looking to stay on the radar of NFL personnel departments.

The Riders debuted at home on April 1st, 1991 with a 10-3 loss to the Frankfurt Galaxy before 18,432 fans.  The WLAF’s international flavor was on display early. Willie Nelson’s rendition of the Star Spangled Banner was followed by Der San Antonio Liederkranz’s performance of the German national anthem in honor of the visiting team (which was composed almost entirely of Americans).

The Riders played their second home game just six days later on April 7th, a 10-3 victory over the Sacramento Surge.  Only 6,772 turned out, surprising WLAF President Mike Lynn, attending his first WLAF game in a U.S. city.  “I am somewhat mystified at why there aren’t more people here,” Lynn told The San Antonio Express News.

Attendance & Ratings

The first season drew to a close in June 1991 when two of the WLAF’s European teams – the Barcelona Dragons and the London Monarchs – met in World Bowl I at London’s Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 61,108. The four European clubs plus Montreal occupied the top five spots in WLAF attendance figures. Each averaged more than 29,000 fans per game.  Of the five American clubs, only the Birmingham Fire averaged over 20,000 fans.  San Antonio finished 9th in the ten team league with average attendance of 14,853 for five dates at Alamo Stadium.

USA Network, in the first year of a four-year $18M cable rights deal, hoped to average a 3.0 Nielsen rating for American broadcasts, but achieved only a 1.2.  ABC was similarly disappointed in their network ratings.

1992 Season

After the NFL approved a 1992 season in late October, the Riders immediately announced plans to move to 16,000-seat Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos.  The team still intended to return to San Antonio proper in 1993 to play at the Alamodome.  In the meantime,  the Riders could sell & advertise beer in San Marcos, and for the first time they would participate in parking and concessions revenue.

The Riders debuted at Bobcat Stadium on March 22, 1992.  10,698 fans turned out to see the Riders dispatch the Montreal Machine 17-16, courtesy of 123 yards rushing from new arrival Ivory Lee Brown. The Riders were much improved on the field under returning Head Coach Mike Riley in 1992.  The team finished 7-3, although that would prove not quite good enough to land a playoff berth.

In August 1992, owner Larry Benson pegged his ownership group’s two-year operating loss from the Riders at approximately $750,000. But the true cost of running the franchise was heavily subsidized by the NFL. And therein lay the rub. After a second year of big losses and small ratings, the World League’s NFL governors pulled the plug on the World League on September 17, 1992.

“The World League was very successful in Europe and we feel that an international focus instead of one in middle-sized America is the way to go,” NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue told The New York Times.

Flirtation with Canadian Football League

After the World League folded, Larry Benson and Sacramento Surge owner Fred Anderson pursued memberships in the Canadian Football League. In mid-January 1993, both owners received conditional expansion franchises – the first two CFL clubs set to play outside Canadian borders. The old names and marks belonged to the NFL, so the clubs took on new names – the San Antonio Texans and the Sacramento Gold Miners. However, just two weeks later the Texans backed out of the CFL, angering Anderson and embarrassing CFL Commissioner Larry Smith, a champion of U.S. expansion. Benson’s football operation was dead.

Aftermath

1991 Riders quarterback Jason Garrett of Princeton went on to play more than a decade in the NFL. He won two Super Bowl rings as Troy Aikman’s back-up with the Dallas Cowboys. Garrett was named Head Coach of the Cowboys in 2010.

1991 Riders starting right tackle John Layfield went on to a long career in professional wrestling, best known as WWE Smackdown champion JBL.  He is one of two high profile wrestlers to come out of the WLAF. Former Sacramento Surge defensive lineman Bill Goldberg became Goldberg.

The NFL re-boooted the World League as a Europe-only league in 1995.  Barcelona, Frankfurt & London returned along with three new Western European cities. No North American clubs were considered for membership. The league, re-branded as NFL Europe in 1998, played 13 seasons before closing down in 2007.

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WLAF Logo T-Shirt

Hope springs eternal, it seems, that someone will make professional spring football work in the United States. But even the NFL itself couldn’t make it happen with its own short-lived developmental league of the early ’90’s. Still, there’s never been another league that gave us rivalries like Birmingham versus Barcelona…

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Links

World League of American Football Media Guides

World League of American Football Programs

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