Insurance tycoon, former high school football coach and motivational speaker Art Williams was awarded a CFL expansion franchise in Birmingham.

Birmingham competed in the Southern Division along with the San Antonio Texans, Baltimore Stallions, Memphis Mad Dogs, and Shreveport Pirates.

However, the CFL traditionally plays on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, largely to avoid competing on television (both in its native country and the U.S.) with the National Football League.

Well aware the CFL's scheduling model would cause serious attendance problems in the fall, Williams persuaded the league to let the 'Cudas play their September and October home games on Sundays so as not to compete directly against high school teams on Fridays and Alabama or Auburn on Saturdays.

They returned to San Antonio the following week for the Southern Division Semi-Final, but were whipped by the Texans 52–9, ending their first and only playoff run.

[3] The Pirates had been barely competitive on the field (winning only eight games in two years) and hamstrung by Glieberman off it, but nevertheless had managed to attract a fairly consistent and numerous fan base comparable with the established CFL teams that didn't disappear when college football season started.

Although Shreveport was far smaller than Birmingham, it was thought that moving the 'Cudas there would match a team that had made a good showing in its first season with a market that was at least potentially capable of supporting it.

The Stallions ownership group was concurrently awarded the remains of the inactive Montreal Alouettes franchise, which started play in 1996.