Minnesota Buckskins
 |
|
| Sport | Team tennis |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 22, 1973 |
| Folded | November 26, 1974 |
| League | World TeamTennis |
| Division | Western |
| Based in | Bloomington, Minnesota |
| Stadium | Metropolitan Sports Center |
| Colors |
English Violet, Golden Yellow |
| Owner(s) | Burt McGlynn |
| President | Burt McGlynn |
| Head coach | Owen Davidson |
| Championships | None |
| Division titles | None |
| Playoff berths | 1974 |
| Section titles | 1974 |
English Violet, Golden Yellow
The Minnesota Buckskins were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT) founded by Lee Meade, Len Vannelli and John Finley. The Buckskins played only one season before folding after the 1974 season. The Buckskins had 27 wins and 17 losses and were the Gulf Plains Section Champions. They lost to the Denver Racquets in the Western Division Championship Series ending their season.
The Buckskins were founded by Lee Meade, Len Vannelli and John Finley as a charter member of WTT in 1973.
Prior to the inaugural WTT draft, each franchise was entitled to sign a player in advance and then use its first-round draft selection on that player. Before the team even had a name, the Minnesota franchise made an aggressive play for Billie Jean King who was widely regarded as a player with the ability to generate lots of interest and ticket sales. Minnesota negotiated a major advertising campaign for King to endorse candy. The contract offered by Minnesota to King would have obligated her to play for the team for five years and pay her compensation in excess of $2 million paid out over ten years. Most of the money in the contract would have come from the endorsement. In addition, the team would have been named the Minnesota Kings. However, King (and WTT league executives) believed it would be better for her to play in the eastern United States. Therefore she solicited offers from the New York and Philadelphia franchises before signing a five-year contract worth $1 million with Philadelphia where she thought there would be better commercial opportunities. King claimed she could earn up to $75,000 for spending a couple hours making a television commercial. "Man, I'm not dumb," she said. "Get it while you can." King went on to win the 1974 WTT Most Valuable Player Award while leading the Philadelphia Freedoms to the best regular-season record in WTT.
...
Wikipedia