The Miami Floridians / The Floridians (1968-1972) ABA

American Basketball Association (1968-1972)

Miami Floridians / The Floridians

Background

The Miami Floridians, later rebranded as simply The Floridians, played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1968 to 1972. The franchise was originally established as the Minnesota Muskies, charter members of the ABA in 1967.

​Despite making it to the ABA Finals, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Pipers, the Muskies lasted only one season in Minneapolis. They averaged just 1,500 fans a game and packed their bags a little over a month after the season ended. Oddly, the lack of fan support in Minnesota didn’t stop the Pipers from moving to Minneapolis a month after that. The Muskies, meanwhile, took their talents to South Beach and became the Miami Floridians. They set up shop in the Miami Beach Auditorium, part of the Miami Beach Convention Center complex.

First season in Florida

​They opened their season on October 26, 1968, with a 112-102 loss to the New York Nets in front of 500 in Long Island’s Commack Arena. They then played two games in Minnesota against their replacements, the relocated Pipers. The second game of that set was played in Duluth, then it was back to New York for another game against the Nets before heading to Louisville to face the Kentucky Colonels. They returned to Miami to face the New Orleans Buccaneers in the home opener. The Floridians won 123-109 in front of 4,325 in the Miami Beach Auditorium.

​As the Minnesota Muskies in the ABA’s inaugural season, the team posted a record of 50-28 and a second-place finish in the ABA Eastern Division, on their way to the finals. In Miami, their winning ways continued. As the Floridians, the club finished 43-35, still good for second place and a trip to the playoffs. There, they topped the Pipers 4 games to 3 but lost to the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 1 in the Eastern Division Finals.

​The bottom fell out the following season as the team tumbled to the bottom of the standings with a record of 23-61, the worst record in the league. Splitting home games between the Dade County Junior College Gym and the Dinner Key Auditorium, an old airline hangar, the team drew an average of 2,700 fans a game.

Ad executive buys team

​Four days after the Indiana Pacers topped the L.A. Stars for the 1969-70 league title, adman Ned Doyle, a cofounder of the famous firm Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB), bought the team. The selling price was reported to be in excess of $1 million.¹¹Doyle Buys Floridians, AP via The St. Petersburg Times, May 30, 1970

florida sports history

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Miami Floridians / The Flordians ABA Apparel

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​Doyle’s first order of business was rebranding the team as a regional franchise, dropping Miami from its name and operating as simply The Floridians.¹²Revitalized Floridians Get A Beautiful Boost, The St. Petersburg Times, Aug. 19, 1970 As such, the team would play home games in Miami, Jacksonville, and the Tampa Bay area. This was the same blueprint that had been employed in the Carolinas by the Cougars and one that would also be adopted by the Virginia Squires for the 1970-71 season.

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The next move, and a rather unorthodox one at that, was firing the entire roster from the previous season while keeping the GM Dennis Murphy and coach Hal Blitman, whom he gave a one-year blank check to build a winner.¹³Even owner’s wife joins promotion act to build Floridians, AP via The Telegraph-Herald, Oct. 20, 1970

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The team’s record improved to 37-47 in 1970-71, and while not a winning mark, it was good enough to grab the final playoff spot in the Eastern Division. They were eliminated 4 games to 2 by the Kentucky Colonels in the division semifinals. Games 3, 4, and 6, hosted by The Floridians, were played in the gymnasium of Miami Dade Junior College.

The Floridians “ball girls”

​One thing that set the Floridians apart from their fellow ABA teams was their “ball girls.” More accurately, their bikini-clad ball girls.¹⁴Revitalized Floridians Get A Beautiful Boost, The St. Petersburg Times, Aug. 19, 1970 “These were some pretty serious bikinis these girls had,” Rick Barry said in the 1997 documentary Long Shots: The Life and Times of the ABA. “They would try to disrupt the opposing team at the free-throw line by planting them right there underneath the basket.”

​The Floridians posted a nearly identical record of 36-48 the following year, again just squeaking into the playoffs, but fans still weren’t showing up. In late February 1972, reports circulated that Doyle was looking to sell the team to a group from New Mexico or to interests in Omaha, Nebraska.¹⁵ABA Floridians May Get New Home, UPI via The Dispatch, Feb. 25, 1972 Neither panned out.

​In March, a group of businessmen from Tampa looked to buy a minority stake in the franchise, seeing more games and perhaps eventually all of the team’s home games being played on the Suncoast.¹⁶Tampans Ready To Buy Into Floridians, AP via The St. Petersburg Times, Mar. 1, 1972 The deal never materialized. A few weeks later, a syndicate from Southwest Ohio announced they were close to a deal that would bring the team to Cincinnati.¹⁷ABA Floridians Will Move To Cincinnati Next Season, AP via The Herald-Journal, Mar. 29, 1972 That news broke two weeks after the NBA’s Cincinnati Royals announced that they were moving to Kansas City.¹⁸Kansas City to Get Cincinnati Royals, AP via The New York Times, Mar. 15, 1972

On the eve of what would be the team’s final game, a Game 4 playoff loss to Dr. J. and the Virginia Squires, Doyle was still openly looking for buyers, with the Cincinnati deal still being worked out. However, that agreement fell apart, and the team was dropped by the league along with the Pittsburgh Condors.

After a 17-year absence, pro basketball finally returned to South Florida in 1989, when the NBA expansion Miami Heat tipped off at home against the New Jersey Nets.

American Basketball Association

Shop at Royal Retros!

ABA Apparel

When it comes to T-Shirts, hoodies, hats, and replica jerseys, we turn to our friends at Royal Retros, who put extraordinary detail into their fully customizable basketball apparel.

• Free Customization Included on jerseys

• Each jersey individually handmade

• Any name and number on jerseys

• Jerseys feature sewn tackle twill crest, numbers & letters

• 100% polyester (jerseys), 100% cotton or cotton blend (tees & hoodies)

• Heavyweight fabric for jerseys made to game standards

Relive the days of the wild & crazy American Basketball Association, with apparel from Royal Retros. Multiple styles and colors available. 

In Memoriam

Former Floridians owner Ned Doyle passed away on March 5, 1989 at age 86.¹⁹Ned Doyle, 86, Co-founder of Ad Firm, Dies, AP via The Schenectady Gazette, Mar. 7, 1989

Links

American Basketball Association Media Guides

American Basketball Association Programs

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