Tag: Phantom Teams

Las Vegas Neon World Team Tennis

Las Vegas Neon

May 13, 2014

The brief 30-day lifespan of the Las Vegas Neon was an sorry footnote in the long history of World TeamTennis.  The niche co-ed tennis league lost its oldest franchise in February 2014 when the Sacramento Capitals moved to Las Vegas after 28 seasons in Northern California. The team’s last benefactor in Sacramento was Deepal Wannakuwatte, a medical supply company owner who took over the Capitals in 2011.  Wannakuwatte announced the move to Las Vegas on February 4, 2014. Barely three weeks after announcing the move to Vegas, Deepal Wannakuwatte was arrested on charges of running a decade-long $150 million Ponzi scheme.  Read more…

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1978 Super Soccer League

January 13, 2014

SUPER SOCCER LEAGUE Announced: January 5, 1978 Vanished: Summer 1978 Founders: Dennis Murphy, Jerry Saperstein, Richard Ragone, Norm Sutherland, Fredric Wise & Dr. Elliott Gorin

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Plymouth River Eels

January 16, 2012

Independent Baseball (Never Played)   Background Last September, my wife and her sister entered a team in Pigskin Fantasies, the fantasy football league of which

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Phoenix Fire ASL

Phoenix Fire

May 3, 2011

While it’s not unusual for minor league sports teams to shut down after a single campaign (see our One Year Wonders tag for an ever-growing list), there are considerably fewer instances of clubs that assemble a team only to fold before playing a single regular season match.  This is the story of one such phantom club, the Phoenix Fire of the American Soccer League.

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