6 . ▁The ▁Los ▁Angeles ▁Express ' ▁sign ings ▁of ▁high - profile ▁colleg iate ▁players ▁cul min ated ▁with ▁the ▁signing ▁of ▁BY U ▁Q B ▁Steve ▁Young ▁to ▁a ▁$ 4 0 ▁million ▁guaranteed ▁contract — at ▁the ▁time , ▁far ▁and ▁away ▁the ▁largest ▁contract ▁in ▁pro ▁football ▁history . ▁The ▁young ▁talent ▁was ▁slow ▁to ▁adapt ▁to ▁the ▁pro ▁game ▁and ▁the ▁Express ▁continued ▁to ▁hover ▁around ▁. 5 0 0 . ▁With ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁le agues ' ▁highest ▁pay roll s ▁and ▁poor ▁attend ance , ▁financial ▁losses ▁mounted . ▁It ▁is ▁estimated ▁that ▁the ▁Express ▁lost ▁as ▁much ▁as ▁$ 1 5 ▁million ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 4 . ▁The ▁Express ▁did ▁manage ▁to ▁make ▁the ▁play offs ▁and ▁defeated ▁the ▁def ending ▁league ▁champion ▁Pan thers ▁ 2 7 – 2 1 ▁in ▁triple ▁over time , ▁before ▁falling ▁to ▁the ▁event ual ▁league ▁run ners - up , ▁Allen ' s ▁Arizona ▁W r ang lers , ▁ 3 5 – 2 3 . ▁In ▁spite ▁of ▁seeing ▁his ▁W r ang lers ▁team ▁make ▁it ▁to ▁the ▁title ▁game , ▁ ▁Ted ▁Di eth rich ▁had ▁seen ▁enough . ▁ ▁He ▁had ▁lost ▁millions ▁for ▁the ▁second ▁year ▁in ▁a ▁row . ▁ ▁Despite ▁field ing ▁a ▁dram atically ▁improved ▁team , ▁he ▁had ▁only ▁had ▁seen ▁a ▁neg lig ible ▁increase ▁in ▁attend ance ▁in ▁Arizona ▁over ▁the ▁previous ▁year ' s ▁numbers . ▁The ▁Philadelphia ▁Stars ▁again ▁finished ▁with ▁the