Oklahoma Outlaws Team History

History of the Outlaws

The Outlaws were originally slated to play in San Diego. However, under pressure from baseball's Padres, the NFL's Chargers, and the NASL's Sockers, the city refused to grant Tatham a lease for Jack Murphy Stadium. Scrambling for a home, Tatham seriously considered playing in Honolulu for its inaugural 1984 season. However, he settled on Tulsa, Oklahoma—even though the city had not even been included in a list of possible expansion sites for the USFL.

Tatham was initially skeptical about basing a team in Tulsa. It was only the 60th-largest television market, which would have made it by far the smallest market in the league. Moreover, the only viable facility, the University of Tulsa's Skelly Stadium, needed major renovations in order to bring it to something approaching professional standards.

However, Tatham had roots in Oklahoma and eventually concluded that putting his team there would give something back to the state. He christened his team the Oklahoma Outlaws. The club was the second major-league sports team to play in the state, after the North American Soccer League's Tulsa Roughnecks.

The Outlaws were competitive for much of the first half of the season, starting out 6-2 off the strength of Williams' arm. Unfortunately, the team could not consistently run the ball. (The Outlaws finished with a league-worst total of 1537 total rushing yards --- almost 200 yards less than the 17th ranked team.) Two blowout losses sent the team into a downward spiral. They did not win another game that season, dropping 10 straight to finish 6-12.

In spite of those factors, the Outlaws averaged 21,038 fans (in a 40,000-seat stadium), 14th in the league. It might have been even higher if not for brutally cold and wet early-season weather and what amounted to season-long lame duck status. While Tulsa as a USFL host city had a number of legitimate problems, fan turnout was surprisingly respectable, especially compared to the unsustainable attendance numbers seen by USFL teams in Chicago (7,455), Washington (7,694), and Los Angeles (15,361). They were also one of eight teams whose average attendance was 45 percent or more of listed capacity. The Outlaws would draw decent crowds of 25,403, 21,625, 22,017, and 29,324 later in the season.

During the team's season in Tulsa, all six of their wins came during inclement weather, 4 at home. Wins against Pittsburgh, Michigan, Houston, Washington, and San Antonio came in rainy conditions, and a win against Chicago came in a Chicago snowstorm.

Established
1983

City
Tempe – Oklahoma City – Tempe

League History
1983 – 1986 / United States Football League

Team History
1985 / Arizona Outlaws
1983 – 1984 / Arizona Wranglers
1984 / Oklahoma Outlaws

Nickname
Outlaws – The Outlaws name comes from the gunslingers known to be in the Oklahoma region.

Original USFL Team
Yes

Final USFL Team
No

Team’s Final Outlook
Despite advancing to the championship game, Dietrhich wanted out after losing millions for the second year in a row. He sold the Wranglers’ assets to Tatham, and Tatham relocated the Outlaws to Arizona for the 1985 season as the Arizona Outlaws, and took the Wranglers’ place at Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium. Since Tatham inherited all of the Wranglers’ player contracts, this deal was reported by some outlets as a merger.

Championship
USFL Championship 0

Stadium
1983 – 1985 / Sun Devil Stadium

*Oklahoma*
1984 / Skelly Stadium

Owner
1984 – 1986 / William R. Tatham Sr., William R. Tatham Jr.
1984 / Dr. Ted Diethrich
1983 / Jim Joseph

Coaches
1985 / Frank Kush (8 wins – 10 losses)
1984 / Woody Widenhofer (6 wins – 12 losses)
1984 / George Allen (12 wins – 9 losses)
1983 / Doug Shivley (4 wins – 14 losses)

Accomplishments
Averaged 21,038 fans (40,000 seat stadium)

*Blue is this team’s history