 The fledgling WFL did succeed in raising stagnant salaries in the NFL.Average salaries in professional football were among the lowest in the four major North American sports, and the National Football League Players Association and the Canadian Football League Players Association had both gone on strike prior to their leagues' respective 1974 seasons in an effort to lift many of the rules suppressing free agency and player salaries.In addition, the NFL did not have a free agency system in place then (and one would not be established until 1993).