USFL economist Nina Cornell, speaking at the...

USFL economist Nina Cornell, speaking at the USFL-NFL antitrust trial in a U.S. District Court in New York, presented two estimates of damages allegedly suffered by the fledgling league from 1983 to 1992.

The first estimate, based on projections from the American Football League’s experience in the 1960s before its merger with the NFL, would give the USFL $565 million in damages for the 10-year period. The second estimate was calculated from a study performed by CBS in 1984 when it considered--and later rejected--the possibility of televising USFL games in the fall. That analysis yielded damages of $301 million.

The USFL, which actually played its first three seasons in the spring, maintains that the NFL’s monopoly position prevented it from becoming a fall league.