LOS ANGELES – A group of former owners and team leaders of the original USFL are suing Fox Sports to stop the launch of the new spring football league of the same name, claiming that the new USFL uses inappropriate branding of the old league.
The lawsuit, filed in California on Monday, alleges the new league violates trademark, false advertising and false association. The group seeks an order to prevent the new league from using names or logos associated with the non-existent league.
The original USFL played games from 1983 to 1985, and the group that sues the new league claims that Fox Sports and its partners did not use the league’s trademarks and other intellectual property properly. The suit called the new league a “shameless forgery”.
Former owners and executives are seeking an order to prevent Fox from calling its league the USFL or using the names and logos of one of the 18 teams in the original league. All eight teams in the new league use the names of 1980s USFL teams.
The league consists of eight teams divided into two divisions. The Northern Division has the Michigan Panthers, the New Jersey Generals, the Philadelphia Stars and the Pittsburgh Maullers. The Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gambles, New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits are in the Southern Division.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.