As the WHA's San Diego Mariners disbanded following that season, San Diego Sports Arena operator Peter Graham decided to join Murphy and Morrow to push for said league along with WHA alum James Browitt.
Marlow became commissioner, while the other three partners became owners or partners of teams – another Mariners for Browitt, the Long Beach Sharks for Browitt and Murphy with the San Francisco Shamrocks, owned by the Harlem Globetrotters' Jerry Saperstein.
The inaugural season had each team playing 42 times, and afterwards a final where the Shamrocks beat the Roadrunners 2-1.
The success lead to the arrival of three other franchises, the Los Angeles Blades, Spokane Flyers and Tucson Rustlers the following year.
However, the second season was plagued with financial problems, with the Los Angeles and San Francisco franchises even folding halfway through, leading to the cancellation of the playoffs (the Roadrunners were named champions for their regular season performance) and the outright folding of the league.