World Hockey Association (1973-1976)
Tombstone
Born: April 4, 1973 – The Ottawa Nationals relocate to Toronto1Toronto new Nationals home? CP via The Phoenix, Apr. 5, 1973
Moved: June 29, 1976 (Birmingham Bulls)2Toros Move to Alabama, UPI via The Boca Raton News, June 30, 1976
First Game: October 7, 1973 (T 4-4 vs. Chicago Cougars)
Last Game: April 6, 1976 (L 10-6 @ Quebec Nordiques)
AVCO Cup Championships: None
Arenas
1973-1974: Varsity Arena
Opened: December 17, 19263Toronto “U” Rink Opens On Friday, The Saskatoon Phoenix, Dec. 16, 1926
1974-1976: Maple Leaf Gardens (16,507)41975-76 World Hockey Association Media Guide
Opened: November 12, 19315Record Crowd Sees Leafs Lose As New Arena Is Opened, The Montreal Gazette, Nov. 13, 1931
Marketing
Team Colors: Blue, White & Red61975-76 World Hockey Association Media Guide
Ownership
Owner: Can-Sports (John F. Bassett et al)
Background
The Toronto Toros were members of the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1973 to 1976. Originally established as the Ottawa Nationals, a charter member of the league in 1972, the team was forced to move to Toronto in the spring of 1973 for the playoffs. For the postseason, they were temporarily known as the Ontario Nationals.
The Nationals were eliminated in the first round, 4 games to 1, by the eventual champions, the New England Whalers. Three weeks later, they were sold to John F. Bassett, son of Canadian media mogul and former Toronto Maple Leafs co-owner John W.H. Bassett.7Bassett Group Buys Nats, CP via The Leader-Post, May 3, 1973
This would be the younger Bassett’s first foray into the world of rebel leagues, as we would go on to also own the Memphis Southmen of the World Football League (WFL), the Toronto/Buffalo Royals of World Team Tennis (WTT), and the Tampa Bay Bandits of the original United States Football League (USFL).
Media Mogul to Sports Mogul
John F. Bassett had become a successful businessman, functioning as his father’s second-in-command. However, Johnny’s true passion was sports. After attending one of the Nationals’ playoff games, he was sold on the WHA and decided to buy the Nationals. He cobbled together a consortium of over 20 investors, although he ponied up most of the dough. The group was called Can-Sports.
On June 11, 1973, Bassett changed the team’s name to the Toronto Toros. He then faced the seemingly insurmountable task of challenging the beloved but often criticized Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL for the hearts and minds of the city’s hockey faithful. Unfortunately, one of their potential revenue streams was severed.
The Toros had to play their home games at Varsity Arena on the campus of the University of Toronto. The venue’s lighting wasn’t strong enough to light the rink for television broadcasts. Without TV money, the team would have to rely primarily on ticket sales to pay its bills. To that end, it needed to be marketed in a clever manner. Bassett and his partners settled on positioning the team as the opposite of the Leafs in every respect.
Competing with the Maple Leafs
The Leafs had been struggling when the Toros arrived, often missing the playoffs or exiting early when they did make the postseason. The team’s owner, Harold Ballard, was a notorious skinflint who publicly feuded with players, particularly those who were in contract negotiations. He also hated the local media for their unfavorable, but accurate, coverage of the team.
To appeal to the city’s fans, Bassett stocked his team with local talent. He was also determined to make a Toros home game more of an experience than a simple hockey game, a common strategy employed by many professional sports franchises today. A media mogul himself, Bassett was able to easily curry favor with the local press.
Bassett was convinced that in hockey-mad Canada, Toronto could easily support two pro teams, just as Montreal had done between 1924 and 1938 with the Canadiens and the Maroons. If New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago could support two teams in the same sport, so could Toronto, he reasoned. The only thing standing in the Toros’ way was a major league-level arena.
Toros look for a better arena
As issues with Varsity Arena became more glaring, Bassett desperately searched for a solution, including the construction of an arena just for the Toros. Real estate prices and a lack of government support made that impossible. Attempts to get his own building failed. As the Toros skated into the 1973-74 playoffs, they found themselves without an arena in which they could host their post-season games, as Varsity Arena was unavailable. The problem was solved by an unlikely partner.
Harold Ballard offered the use of Maple Leaf Gardens to the Toros, and Bassett grudgingly accepted. That, in turn, led to the Toros signing a lease for the 1974-75 season. Ballard, of course, despised the WHA for driving up salaries and hurting his business, but he was more than happy to take Bassett’s money. The Toros beat the Cleveland Crusaders in the first round of the 1974 playoffs but fell to the Chicago Cougars in the next round. They averaged around 8,000 fans for those games at the Garden.
The following season, Bassett and the Toros found out just what a horrible landlord Ballard was. The WHA squad was given the visitors’ locker room used for teams playing the Toronto Marlies of the junior Ontario Hockey Association. He removed padding from the player benches and informed the Toros that if they wanted luxuries like lights, they would cost extra.
Despite the onerous lease, the Toros made the playoffs with a record 43-33-2 but were dispatched by the San Diego Mariners in the first round, 4 games to 2. They tumbled to last place the following year. Several investors pulled out as the red ink flowed.
Exactly a month after the Toros final game, a 10-6 road loss to the Quebec Nordiques, Bassett announced the team would be leaving Toronto.8Toros moving out of Toronto, CP via The Windsor Star, May 6, 1976 On June 29, he announced that the team was moving to Alabama and would be renamed the Birmingham Bulls.
Additional Source: The Life and Teams of Johnny F. Bassett by Denis M. Crawford, 2021, McFarland.
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In Memoriam
Toros owner John Bassett died of brain cancer on May 15, 1986 at age 47. New York Times obituary.
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