1939 was the fourth of six seasons for the American Association. In 1946 the league would change its name to the American Football League.  The AA underwent more change in 1939. Gone was Clifton, but the league returned to a two-division, eight team format as the Wilmington Clippers and the Providence Steamroller (independent teams in 1937 and 1938) joined the AA. Chicago Bears owner George Halas purchased the Newark Tornadoes and renamed them the Bears (Wilmington protested the Bears use of Sid Luckman in a playoff game, which the Bears won, 13-6, to win the Southern Division title). On the field, the Paterson Panthers (7-5-0) would easily win the Northern Division by a comfortable 2.5 games over the second place Providence (3-4-0). Meanwhile, the Southern Division would be an entirely different story as the Newark Bears (6-2-1) and the Wilmington Clippers (9-3-1) would tie for the division lead and need to play a divisional playoff game to determine the division champion. The Bears would go on to defeat the Clippers 13-6, to set up the AA Championship game. The Newark Bears would host the game on December 17, 1939, at Schools Stadium in Newark, New Jersey. In from of 15,365 fans, the Bears would dominate the Paterson Panthers 27-7, to lay claim to the 1939 American Association Championship.