Passport Scotch ups the ante – The Passport Scotch Grand Prix of Platform Tennis Tour culminating in the Men’s and Women’s Nationals. The purse for the Men’s and Women’s tournaments was $169,000; the Nationals $25,200 each
Calvert Distillers, a division of Joseph E. Seagram & Son. Inc., renewed its sponsorship of professional men's and women's platform tennis for the season.
The 1978-79 Passport Scotch Grand Prix of Platform Tennis featured the highest prize money in the sport's 50 year history, a total of $169,400 for both men's and women's circuits.
The APTA had been asked many times why the singles game never developed in platform tennis. Singles offered certain advantages: it was more physically demanding; it appealed to the younger player; and, matches were easier to arrange.
The APTA held National Singles Championships from 1935-1938, so the idea of singles play was not new. They based the decision to abandon singles on the severe physical demands involved. However, since APTA ball specifications now allowed for a livelier ball and wire tension was greater, it was easier to reach an opponent’s shot.
As a result, the APTA Board decided that the time for singles had come. As a first step, the APTA held a singles workshop at the Apple Club in New York City on September 23. A group of top-ranked men and women players tried out several suggested formats. Two formats emerged as the most popular types. Both would be tested dur[...]
Graebner/Russell win the second Passport Scotch Grand Prix tournament of the 1978/79 season in Chicago. Grand Prix standings and prize money through 12/11/1978
Manufacturers Hanover sponsored a prize-money tournament on February 10 and 11 at the Apple Platform Tennis Club in New York City. Those eligible to compete were the top eight pro teams, both men and women.
The previous years tournament, also sponsored by Manufacturers Hanover, was limited to women. Its success opened up the event to men.
The previous year’s events had been highly successful. The agreement again called for Hertz sponsorship of the APTA Regional Championships (this year with the addition of the new Region V), as well as the Presidents' Cup. Once again Hertz agreed to underwrite travel expenses for the regional teams to the Presidents' Cup and the cost of a Presidents' Reception.
The Minutes of the APTA Executive Committee August 22-23, 1979 reflected the fact that Hertz decided in the summer not to continue sponsorship for the following season (1979=1980) because of the gas crunch.
The E.L. Wagner Company introduced the world's first indoor “un-platformed” platform tennis court named “The Innovator."
Their advertisement explained the benefits: “Now you can really enjoy your favorite sport, all year long, in any weather. Wagner's inexpensive, new indoor court provides you with an ideal year round recreation center - perfect for your company, club or school gymnasium. Without a raised platform, Wagner's indoor court can be installed quickly and easily, for considerably less than the cost of an outdoor court. Its special ‘Innovator’ playing surface assures you of a sure-footed grip and uniform bounce. And its superstructure is made of sturdy aluminum, to maintain taut, true wires.”
Source: Paddle Talk, Vol. 4 No. 2 (January)
Passport Scotch continued its support in the 1979-1980 season. The sponsorship provided $20,000 for prizes as sole sponsor of the APTA men's and women's National Championships. At the same time, Passport underwrote the publication of the new member newsletter, Platform Tennis News.
PASSPORT SCOTCH TO AWARD JACKETS TO TOP TEAMS
This February, look for a new crop of colorful Passport Scotch warm-up jackets on the backs of the top national and regional players. The ten top national men's teams will receive jackets during that month. So will the first ten teams in each of the five APTA regions. The awards will be made on the basis of standings reported to the APTA by January 30, 1980. Another set of Passport Scotch jackets will be given out in April, based on March 31 standings. The president of each region will decide how to allocate this second batch of windbreakers, to avoid dupl[...]
The first formal tournament with a no-ad, two-serve format was held October 20-21 at the six-court Apple Club in New York City, where Doug Russell was the pro. This was a non-ranking Men's Doubles Open that reflected a direct APTA response to requests from many for a trial of two new dimensions.
For some time players had wanted to see how tournament play would be affected by giving the server two tries rather than the traditional one. They were also intrigued with the implications of having the first point after deuce determine who won the game.
Some of the participants liked one or another of the options and several quickly saw that the changes could heighten interest in the sport for the new player, the spectator, and even potential sponsors. The two-serve proposal proved more popular than the no-ad format, but on balance, there was not enough enthusiasm to warrant any changes of[...]
Among its bizarre ways, Team Tennis allowed the carry, or the catching or letting the ball come to rest on the racquet. This led to confusion on this point.
But Team Tennis died, while the more enduring racquet sports continued and still disallowed this bobble-hit.
Source: Platform Tennis News (October & December)
The APTA's freedom to set standards for platform tennis equipment could have been in trouble as a result of a regulation, proposed by the Federal Trade Commission, that would have affected all sports associations in the country. The FTC argued that having sports associations set standards was a violation of the anti-trust laws. The Chamber of Commerce discussed the issue in their Washington Report ("Does Arnold Palmer Need Golf Lessons from the FTC")
The U.S. Golf Association objected strenuously, even on national TV, with Arnold Palmer as their spokesman and the APTA Board planned to join the protest. The proposal generated so much opposition that it was dropped.
Source: Platform Tennis News (October), APTA Executive Committee Minutes August 22 and 23, 1979
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