Tombstone
Born: February 4, 2014 – The Sacramento Capitals relocate to Las Vegas
Folded: March 5, 2014
World Team Tennis Championships: None
Venue
Branding
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owner: Deepal Wannakuwatte
Background
The brief 30-day lifespan of the Las Vegas Neon was an embarrassing 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 Capitals endured nearly three decades in the turbulent, high turnover league. But the team’s last few seasons were anything but stable, with persistent ownership, financial and venue problems.
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, citing the Capitals stadium woes as the primary reason for the move. The Capitals played the 2013 season in a shopping mall parking lot.
Barely three weeks after announcing the move to Vegas, Deepal Wannakuwatte was arrested on charges of running a decade-long $150 million Ponzi scheme. World TeamTennis revoked and disbanded the Las Vegas Neon on March 5th, 2014. Wannakuwatte plead guilty to fraud charges in May 2014 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in November 2014.
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