Page "1920 APFA season" Paragraph 3

Prior to the APFA, there were several other loose, professional organizations ; most of the APFA teams were from either the Ohio League or the New York Pro Football League.

On August 20, 1920, a meeting attended by representatives of four Ohio League teams — the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Dayton Triangles, and the Akron Pros — was held.

At the meeting, the representatives tentatively agreed to call their new league the American Professional Football Conference, introduce a salary cap for the teams, and not to sign college players nor players under contract with another team.

According to the Canton Evening Repository, the purpose of the league was to " raise the standard of professional football in every way possible, to eliminate bidding for players between rival clubs and to secure cooperation in the formation of schedules, at least for the bigger teams.

" The representatives then contacted other major professional teams and invited them to a meeting for September 17.