David Frank Dixon (June 4, 1923 – August 8, 2010)[1] was an American businessman and sports executive who helped create the New Orleans Saints NFL team, the Louisiana Superdome, World Championship Tennis (WCT) and the original version of the United States Football League (USFL).
[4] On November 1, 1966, the efforts of Dixon and political figures such as Congressmen Hale Boggs and Governor John McKeithen paid off when the NFL awarded its 16th franchise to New Orleans.
After signing John Newcombe to a professional contract, Dixon persuaded Cliff Drysdale, Nikki Pilić, Roger Taylor, Tony Roche, Dennis Ralston, Pierre Barthès, and Butch Buchholz, seven of the world's ten best male tennis players, to turn pro within a few weeks.
In 1985, he gave a speech at the Harvard Business School, proposing "America's Football Teams, Inc.", a professional league that would sell shares of stock as part of a ticket purchase.
[10] After the Fox Television Network was launched in 1987, Dixon proposed the "American Football Federation", which would have 10 teams and draft academically ineligible high school graduates.