Gaining a Cleathold

In Oregon, fans of the World Football League's Portland Storm press together in a 27,500-seat stadium built for baseball before the Hoover Depression. On Randall's Island in the middle of New York's East River, the quarterback of the city's Stars tosses passes into darkness as his team plays under lights first used 35 years ago at Ebbets Field, where apartment houses now stand. ("This is the only stadium, and the only league," says Star Defensive End Gerry Philbin, "where they decide on the coin flip whether they'll take the well-lit side or the dull side.") Despite such antique facilities and some equally antique players, the twelve teams of the maverick World Football League played the sixth game of their 20-game season last week. They are clearly gaining a cleathold on the U.S. sports scene.

There was no doubt that the W.F.L.'s debut got a lift from the bitter and protracted strike by National Football League players. Until last week, when the walkout halted for a 14-day "cooling off' period and striking veterans began reporting to training camp, the established league's exhibition season had been a disaster with rookies and free agents playing humdrum football in half-empty stadiums. Even if the strike is settled soon, the rancor between owners and strikers--not to mention bad blood between strikers and veterans who crossed picket lines--promises to linger through the season ahead.

The W.F.L. has its own woes from a scandal that surfaced recently when officials of the Philadelphia Bell and the Jacksonville Sharks confessed to hyperinflating attendance figures with a mass giveaway of tickets. Some 44,000 freebies were handed out to Shark fans for the team's first two home games. A whopping 100,000 went to Bell spectators. "The second game was on TV," explained Bell Executive Vice President Barry Leib shortly before his 48-hour suspension by League Founder-Commissioner Gary Davidson. "How would it have looked if no one was there?"

The disclosures not only smudged the league's credibility but helped obscure signs of genuine fan support. Football enthusiasts in Birmingham, Ala., who tried unsuccessfully for eight years to land an N.F.L. franchise, have braved bad weather to greet the Birmingham Americans with an average paid attendance of 43,000. The W.F.L. has also drawn respectable TV ratings (averaging about 8 million viewers per week) with its midweek evening games on TVS, an independent television network.

New Stars. Part of the league's appeal lies in its promise to supply more action than the defense-oriented N.F.L. After each touchdown (worth 7 points), there is an extra "action point" (a run or pass) instead of the automatic place kick. Restrictions against movement in the backfield have been eliminated and an extra period has been added to break ties. So far the new rules have produced some high-scoring contests, even though the W.F.L.'s play has not been notably thrilling.

Not surprisingly, the new league has introduced a mini-galaxy of new stars. Bell Quarterback Jim ("King") Corcoran, a castoff from five N.F.L. teams, has finally found a home in Philadelphia with his shrewd passing game. In Birmingham, Matthew Reed, a black quarterback from Grambling, replaced the injured George Mira for two games and coolly led the undefeated Americans to late fourth-quarter wins.

For all their public optimism, few W.F.L. owners are predicting quick profits. Chicago Fire Owner Tom Origer has said that he is ready to accept losses of $5 million before making a cent. Most owners are counting on the eventual higher value of their franchises to recoup their heavy initial outlays. With such N.F.L. superstars as Larry Csonka, Calvin Hill and Jim Kiick scheduled to come aboard next year, the W.F.L. investments may well turn into winners ahead of schedule.

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