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1974 Denver Racquets Pinback Button from World Team Tennis

Denver Racquets

September 14, 2013

The Denver Racquets were one of 16 teams that competed during the debut season of World Team Tennis in the summer of 1974.  World Team Tennis was a co-ed sports league promoted by women’s superstar Billie Jean King.  Each club consisted of three male and three female players. The Racquets played out of Denver Auditorium Arena. After a slow start to the season, the Racquets caught fire late and upset King’s own Philadelphia Freedoms team in the championship finals. The Racquets would not defend their title, however, as the franchise move to Phoenix under new ownership for the 1975 season.

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1994 World Team Tennis Program

Phoenix Smash

August 25, 2013

The Phoenix Smash of World Team Tennis were a summer co-ed tennis promotion during the early 1990’s. The Smash were operated by the Colangelo family, owners of the NBA Phoenix Suns, and played at the Suns’ brand new home, America West Arena. Despite ranking first in World Team Tennis attendance every season with a roster that included American superstar Jimmy Connors, the Smash were less popular than Colangelo’s other summer properties in the new arena. The Smash struggled to get decent dates as a result and the promotion shut down after a three-season run.

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Denver Stars 1978 Major League Rodeo Champions Snapback Hat

Denver Stars

November 26, 2021

The short-lived Denver Stars were the first and only champions of Major League Rodeo, a controversial 1978 start-up that sought to impose the conventions of American team sports leagues onto the rugged individualism of professional rodeo competition.

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Florida Flamingos World Team Tennis

Florida Flamingos

May 9, 2020

The Florida Flamingos were a One-Year Wonder in the co-ed World Team Tennis league during the promotion’s first season in the summer of 1974. The Flamingos played out of the Convention Hall at the Miami Beach Convention Center, host venue for the 1972 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. The team’s top player was South African Cliff Drysdale, a men’s singles finalist at the 1965 U.S. Open.

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1988 World Team Tennis Program

Portland Panthers

August 28, 2013

The Portland (Oregon) Panthers played two quiet seasons in Domino’s Pizza TeamTennis (better known as World Team Tennis) in the summers of 1988 and 1989.
The Team Tennis format, at the time, featured four-person rosters with two male and two female players.  The Panthers’ best known player was Dianne Balestrat, better known during her 1970’s heyday as Dianne Fromholtz. The Aussie ranked in the world top ten for women’s singles from 1976 to 1979.

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