Tombstone
Born: 1992 – WTT expansion franchise
Folded: February 7, 19951NO BYLINE. “Sports Briefs: Tennis”. The Republic (Phoenix, AZ). February 8, 1995
First Game: July 9, 1992 (L 30-13 vs. Los Angeles Strings)
Last Game: August 3, 1994 (L 24-23 @ San Antonio Racquets)
World Team Tennis Championships: None
Arena
America West Arena (9,000)
Opened: 1992
Branding
Team Colors: Black, Purple & Teal
Ownership
Owner: Jerry Colangelo
Attendance
The Smash led World Team Tennis in attendance in each of its three seasons from 1992 to 1994, according to The Arizona Republic.2NO BYLINE. “Sports Briefs: Tennis”. The Republic (Phoenix, AZ). February 8, 1995
Sources:
Background
The Phoenix Smash were a top franchise in World TeamTennis for three summers from 1992 to 1994. WTT features 4-person teams (two men, two women), a unique scoring system, and a laid-back atmosphere that encourages fans to cheer and yell. The league is now in its second incarnation. A bigger budget version went under during the 1970’s, but a scaled back league was revived in 1981 and is currently in its fourth decade of play. Tennis legend Billie Jean King has been TeamTennis’ driving force since the original league debuted in 1974.
Colangelo Sports Empire
The Smash were owned by the Colangelo family, owners of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. At this time, the Colangelo’s were in the midst of assembling a menagerie of second-tier pro sports franchises to fill summer dates at the newly opened American West Arena. Besides the Smash, the Colangelos also launched the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League in 1992 and would add the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League a year later.
During the first season in 1992 the Smash featured a typically anonymous TeamTennis roster of pro tour journeymen, such as the delightfully named Dinky Van Rensburg. But thanks to the pro sports expertise and infrastructure of the Colangelo family, the Smash established a new attendance record for the 13-year old TeamTennis league with announced average crowds of 3,285 per game.
Connors vs. Borg
In December 1992 the Smash added a big name, signing 39-year old American superstar Jimmy Connors. In July 1993, the Smash hosted the Los Angeles Strings at America West Arena. The Strings featured Bjorn Borg and the big attraction was the first set of competitive tennis between Connors and Borg since the 1981 U.S. Open. The match drew a league record crowd of 7,693 fans.
Connors returned to the Smash for the 1994 season as well. The Smash led the World Team Tennis in attendance in 1994 for the third consecutive season.
Demise
In August 1994 the Colangelo family put the Smash up for sale after three seasons, citing the high operating costs of staging matches in an NBA arena. Competition from the family’s other summer properties also hurt the tennis team. Both the Rattlers and the Sandsharks drew larger crowds, so they got the better dates and the Smash were often relegated to weekday evenings.
With no buyers on the horizon, the franchise was sold back to World TeamTennis management for an undisclosed sum in February 1995. This marked the end of the team, as TeamTennis was unable to find a new buyer and the Phoenix club was eventually deleted from the league’s 1995 schedule.
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