Lobsters hoping for tennis revival
Boston is a sports fan's haven -- ingrained with baseball, football, basketball, and now, if Bahar Uttam gets his way, tennis.
This town, he says, is starving for professional tennis, there is an entire fan base aching for blazing backhands and jaw-dropping serves. And he's giving them what they want.
Today, Bostonians add another professional sport to a palette that runs from Fenway Park to Foxborough.
Today, the Boston Lobsters, a World Team Tennis organization, are back.
Professional tennis has been done in Boston before, and didn't work. The original Lobsters debuted in 1974 and stuck around until 1978, but couldn't make things work even after Patriots owner Robert Kraft bought the team in 1977. Money and management issues were factors in the team going under back then, but Uttam said this time things will be different.
''I didn't buy the franchise to make money. That's not my goal," he said. ''I've lived in this city for almost 30 years now. I belong to this city, and if I was going to do anything sports-related, it was going to be my passion, tennis."
For Uttam, this isn't as much a business venture as a hobby, something he turned to when semi-retirement didn't suit him.
''Sitting around all day watching television and eating bon-bons is fun for about a day," he said, so he started searching for a way to occupy his time. Soon, he had plunked down $100,000 to bring the sport he loves back to Boston.
Uttam is doing a lot to change the things that went wrong the first time around, but he's also bringing some aspects back. Martina Navratilova, who was an original Lobster in '74, is the team's marquee player again this year. She will play six matches this season -- two at home and four away. Joining her on the roster are former Harvard tennis stars James and Thomas Blake. Also returning to the team is Anne Smith -- she was a player in 1978; this year she's the coach.
General manager and COO Peter Mandeau said the Blake brothers should help attract the local crowd that is avid about tennis, while Navratilova will draw an audience that simply recognizes her name and might not attend a match otherwise.
Uttam is aware of the team's shaky history, but he's in a position previous owners were not. For him, money is not really an issue. Uttam co-founded the technology-based Synetics Corporation. He left the company in 2002 when its revenues had reached $50 million. So he likely won't face the financial strain the team's first owner, Ray Ciccolo, was under when he declared bankruptcy in 1975 and was forced to sell the team to a group of Boston businessmen. And Uttam doesn't believe he will have issues with how the league is run, like Kraft did when the team faltered, and eventually folded, in 1978. His only goal is to break even.
So far, it seems he could reach that goal this season. Tickets for tonight's opening match vs. the Kansas City Explorers at Harvard's Bright Arena (where the Lobsters are playing to avoid rainouts) were 40 percent sold as of last week. Uttam estimates he will have to sell 60 percent of the seats to stay out of the red. Selling tickets will be easier when the Lobsters' marquee players take the court against their opponent's stars, such as Thursday, when Navratilova and Co. play Martina Hingis and the New York Sportimes.
Still, how does a three-week professional tennis season find a niche in the heart of Red Sox Nation? Uttam said the key is to turn the public's perceptions about tennis upside down. Instead of stuffy, quiet matches where the loudest sounds are the players' grunts, World Team Tennis will be about the crowd.
Lobsters matches will start out with live music and barbecues, and fans will receive giveaways such as rackets and noisemakers. Mandeau said the Lobsters' approach will reflect that of the 30-year-old league.
''World Team Tennis provides the electricity, excitement, and fan-friendly atmosphere of minor league baseball, but with professional athletes," he said. ''We want people to be loud. We want people to cheer for their home team."
