 With the relative financial stability of the Birmingham and Memphis clubs, both attempted to join the NFL but were refused.In 1979, the Memphis club owners filed an anti-trust suit against the NFL.Their case was ultimately dismissed on May 30, 1984, by which time the owners had already established the Tampa Bay Bandits in the next professional league, the United States Football League (which incidentally filed their own, more famous antitrust suit against the NFL in 1986).