Tombstone
Born: November 1999 – WTT expansion franchise
Folded: January 2007
First Match:
Last Match
World Team Tennis Championships: None
Stadia
2000-2001: Hartford State Armory
????-2006: Apple Arena at Blue Fox Run Golf Course (2,500)
Branding
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owners: Brian Foley & Lisa Wilson-Foley
Expansion Fee (1999): $60,0001Bailer, Darice. “Team Tennis Finds a Home in Hartford”. The Times (New York, NY). July 23, 2000
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!
When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!
Background
The Hartford FoxForce were members of Billie Jean King’s summer time World Team Tennis promotion for seven summers between 2000 and 2006. Founded by King and a few other partners in 1974, WTT has operated quietly for the better part of four decades. The scale and ambition of the league has fluctuated over the years. The league started out in gargantuan NHL and NBA arenas in the 1970’s. But today World Team Tennis has settled into a niche as a sort of low-key glorified exhibition circuit. The league emphasizes intimate venues and affordable family entertainment (expect music & “wacky” sound effects between points) without the traditional stuffiness and formality of pro tour events.
World Team Tennis teams are co-ed. Most of the league’s players are lower-profile tour professionals. In the year 2000, when the FoxForce joined WTT as an expansion club, the minimum base salary was $4,000 for three weeks work, plus performance bonuses. But each season, there are a handful of big name players who play for much larger appearance fees and provide the league with its box office appeal.
International Stars
Boris Becker, James Blake and Monica Seles were among the top names to play for the FoxForce over the years. Jimmy Connors, Anna Kournikova, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova and Pete Sampras were among the stars that came to Connecticut on opposing teams.
The FoxForce were owned by husband and wife Brian Foley and Lisa Wilson-Foley for their entire existence. Brian Foley previously owned the Connecticut Pride basketball team of the Continental Basketball Association. The team had a loyal following, first at the 3,000-seat State Armory in Hartford and later at a 2,500-seat outdoor tennis stadium at Blue Fox Run Golf Course in Avon.
Demise
The Foleys shut down the Hartford FoxForce in January 2007. They cited a lack of corporate sponsorship support for the team.
World Team Tennis Shop
Links
###
