The MLFS was created in 1989 with the intent of serving as a nationwide minor league for players seeking NFL exposure and marketed itself as having "major league ambitions" while operating on a semi-professional financial model. Players were not paid, instead, it established a Job Placement Program to help players secure employment in the cities where they played. The league plan was to play a 12-game season under NFL rules from late July through mid-October. On February 10, 1989 the league announced that representatives from 14 franchises completed two days of meetings in which they discussed logistics and operational plans for the league’s inaugural season. The teams were slated to be based in Birmingham, Seattle, West Palm Beach, Hayward (California), Fairfax, Portland, Wilmington, Raleigh, Colorado Springs, Omaha, Tulsa, Scranton, Lowell (Massachusetts), and Ottawa, Canada. The league planned to divide the franchises into West Coast, Midwest, and East Coast divisions. Each franchise paid a $10,000 league entry fee, along with an additional $2,000 to attend the initial organizational meetings. A month later the MLFS releases a list of only 11 franchises (only five teams - Seattle, Hayward, Fairfax, Colorado Springs and Scranton - were at the original announcement) that will play in the 1989 inaugural season. A retrospective in
The New York Times characterized the league's inaugural season as a difficult effort to establish a structured national minor league system. The league continued in 1990 but financial struggles, uneven attendance, and travel costs destabilized the organization. Several franchises folded during the season. By the end of 1990, the MLFS ceased operations.
1989 season The 1989 season marked the league's debut, with teams competing in a summer schedule designed to avoid conflict with the NFL and college football seasons. The league emphasized player development but struggled financially throughout the year. The Colorado Springs Spirit included a transgender cheerleader in their squad, Shannon Ireland Trump, who stated that she was a niece of former USFL's
New Jersey Generals owner and future U.S. President
Donald Trump. The Bears team was coached by
John Ralston, and all players were former athletes in other sports who were recruited to play football and earned 400 to 800
rubles a month (twice the average Soviet wage at the time), which was sponsored by various American corporate sponsors. The MLFS teams won the first four matchups, with Moscow held scoreless in each contest, by a combined score of 185-0.
1990 season The league returned for a second season in 1990 with a revised structure. Despite attempts to stabilize operations, multiple clubs folded mid-season and the MLFS was unable to sustain play beyond the year. The Colorado Springs Spirit opened the season with a 7–0 record before head coach
Pete Riehlman resigned, citing health reasons. On the same day, the league’s leading rusher,
Rick Gales, along with three-fifths of the offensive line, departed the team. With the roster reduced to 22 players, the Spirit forfeited their next game and were subsequently expelled from the MLFS. The league continued to destabilize, as the Tacoma Express folded after eight games, prompting the MLFS to cut-short the regular season after 10 weeks. The Charlotte Barons won the 1990 MLFS championship, defeating the Pueblo Crusaders 24–18.
Playoffs ==Teams==