The Spirit were Pittsburgh’s indoor soccer team at the Civic Arena from 1978 until 1986. During their peak years in the early 1980’s, the Spirit was owned by Pittsburgh Penguins owner Edward DeBartolo and frequently drew better crowds than the Pens. That dynamic changed with the NHL debut of Mario Lemieux in 1984 and the Spirit closed their doors in the spring of 1986.
The Indianapolis Capitols (1968-1970) were a short-lived effort in professional minor league football, a form of entertainment which largely ceased to exist by the mid-1970’s. The Caps were one of the first pro football franchises to put their team in the hands of a black quarterback. They were also one of the first dabblings in pro sports by future NFL and NHL power broker Edward DeBartolo.
The original Pittsburgh Maulers were a One-Year Wonder in the United States Football League during the spring of 1984. The Maulers were best known for signing 1983 Heisman Trophy-winning running back Mike Rozier of the University of Nebraska before he could enter the 1984 NFL draft. But Rozier was banged up from his senior season of college football and the rest of the roster was awfully thin. The Maulers staggered to a wretched 3-15 record. When a faction of USFL leaders headed by Donald Trump announced that the USFL would abandon the league’s spring football niche to compete head-to-head with the NFL in the fall of 1986, Maulers owner Edward DeBartolo Sr. cut his losses and folded the team after only one season.
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