Houston E-Z Riders

World Team Tennis (1974)

Tombstone

Born: 1973 – WTT founding franchise
Folded: May 2, 1975

First Match: May 7, 1974 (W 30-28 @ Minnesota Buckskins)
Last Match: August 20, 1974 (L 29-19 vs. Minnesota Buckskins)

WTT Championships: None

Arenas

Sam Houston Coliseum
Opened: 1937
Demolished: 1998

HemisFair Arena
Opened: 1968
Demolished: 1995

Marketing

Team Colors: Orange & Brown¹

Ownership

Owner: E.Z. Jones

WTT Wear

World Team Tennis
Logo T-Shirt

World Team Tennis has been around in one form or another for nearly fifty years now, but this chill logo tee from our partners at Old School Shirts pays tribute to the original league and its mid-70’s glory days when Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase suited up for their WTT clubs in between Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.

Also available in women’s scoop neck and women’s racerback tank styles!

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Background

On September 20th, 1973, the Houston Astrodome played host to the “Battle of the Sexes II“. The brilliantly executed tennis promotion pitted 55-year old former World No. 1 Bobby Riggs against 29-year old Billie Jean King, the top-ranked female player in the world in 1971 and 1972. The three-set contest was actually something of a rematch. Riggs previously defeated Margaret Court, the 1973 women’s #1, in Battle of the Sexes I, a match that is now largely overlooked.

Riggs leaned in hard on the role of the heel. He wore a warm-up suit emblazoned with the slogan “Men’s Lib” and hyped the match with chauvinistic comments to the media. King took a more earnest approach. She believed that a loss to Riggs following Court’s defeat would set back the development of the women’s tennis tour and women’s sports in general for years. King wasn’t without a sense of humor though. She entered the Astrodome on a throne held aloft by shirtless men in Egyptain slave garb. She also smoked Riggs in three straight sets, running the old man from end to end of the baseline.

For all of its pro wrestling-style theatrics, the Battle of the Sexes II is regarded nearly 40 years later as a game-changing moment in the advancement of women’s pro sports. The match occured just over a year after the U.S. Congress passed the landmark Title IX legislation that changed the landscape of women’s scholastic athletics. The promotion also helped raise the profile another initiative that King was at work on in late 1973: the controversial launch of World Team Tennis.

Formation of World Team Tennis

World Team Tennis conceived of tennis as a co-ed team sport played in major hockey arenas across the United States. Each contest consisted of five matches – a single set of men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. Each game won equated to a point and cumulative team points determined the winner. King’s husband Larry King was one of the league’s founders and King herself served as promotional front woman and top female star.

Houston itself was set to receive one of the sixteen franchises scheduled to begin play in May 1974. The Houston E-Z Riders took their name from the team’s financial backer, oilman E.Z. Jones. The Riders’ logo was an endearingly goofy ripoff of Yosemite Sam. The mustachioed outlaw toted a pair of smoking tennis racquets in his hip holsters.

John Newcombe Signing

In late 1973, the E-Z Riders signed Australian men’s star John Newcombe to a five-year contract. The Newcombe signing was a breakthrough for World Team Tennis. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the recently formed men’s player union, was staunchly opposed to its members departing the international touring schedule to play WTT’s 44-match summer schedule. Newcombe was the first major male star to buck the union. The deal opened the door for (some of) the top male players of the 70’s to sign on with World Team Tennis, including Jimmy Connors in 1974 and later Bjorn Borg, Vitas Gerulaitis and Ilie Nastase.

Other notable E-Z Riders included 23-year old American Dick Stockton, who made it to the Wimbledon semi-finals in 1974 in the midst of the E-Z Riders season, and Australian Helen Gourlay, a doubles specialist who nevertheless attained the 1971 French Open final as a singles player.

The E-Z Riders played most of their 22 home matches at the Sam Houston Coliseum, with four 1974 dates also scheduled at HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. The E-Z Riders finished with a 25-19 record in 1974, good enough to qualify for the World Team Tennis playoffs. In the opening round, the Minnesota Buckskins eliminated the E-Z Riders. The playoff loss ended what would turnout to be the franchise’s only season.

Demise

World Team Tennis wobbled badly in the winter following its debut season. The league contracted from 16 to 11 franchises. At first, Houston seemed to be one of the survivors. The E-Z Riders announced a move from the Sam Houston Coliseum to the recently constructed Astro Arena. But the club fell behind in its financial obligations to the league. On the opening weekend of the the 1975 World Team Tennis schedule – and just ten days before their own season opener set for May 12th – the E-Z Riders suspended operations on May 2nd, 1975. The face-saving announcement was that the team would sit out a year and re-organize for a future revival. The Houston E-Z Riders were never heard from again.

The original World Team Tennis lasted for five seasons, eventually folding following the 1978 season. A lower-budget revival of World Team Tennis launched in 1981, again with Billie Jean King’s involvement, and continues going strong to this day.