Hoag to operate Newport Beach tennis squad

NEWPORT BEACH — With plans for a new stadium to be built in the area and a popular blond player coming July 6, Hoag Hospital has thrown its hat into the ring of World Team Tennis.

The Hoag Hospital Foundation has a three-year contract to operate the Newport Beach Breakers, it was announced Friday at the Newport Beach Country Club, where the Breakers will play their seven home matches in July.

The Breakers’ new tennis stadium, which seats 2,200, will be built in the parking lot of the Newport Beach Country Club. The first home date is July 6, when Anna Kournikova and the Sacramento Capitals will play against the Breakers.

Jeff Purser, the Breakers’ executive director, is hoping for a community-type setting at the new venue, and with the backing of Hoag Hospital there is confidence to reach the six-figure range for money in the name of charity. That’s a rarity in World Team Tennis.

No other franchise in World Team Tennis is operated by a charitable group. So Hoag Hospital will either be setting a trend or serving as a cautionary tale.

However, with its Toshiba Golf Classic established in Newport Beach, the hospital foundation anticipates reaping plenty from the Breakers.

“I don’t care who you are and what business you’re starting, there’s always risk,” Purser said. “But we’re confident with Hoag being the anchor of this in the community and people realizing that it benefits the hospital. As we get the message out about what a unique and exciting entertainment and corporate marketing opportunity it is, then we’ll have great success.”

Purser said the idea of Hoag operating the Breakers began as a joke, told when he and Alan Beyer were golfing. Beyer, an orthopedic surgeon at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and now the Breakers’ chairman, thought it could become reality, and after talking with World Team Tennis Commissioner Ilana Kloss, it came to be.

Yet, Purser pointed out the Breakers’ monetary success would be on a smaller scale than the Toshiba golf event. But the same type of growth is expected.

Hoag is in its 10th year with Toshiba. The hospital foundation is expected to raise $500,000 more than what it came up with in the first year with the Champions Tour event , slated for March 5 to 11 at the Newport Beach Country Club.

The hope is that a new venue and marquee names will help its cause. It will certainly be needed. The temporary stadium at the country club will cost about $70,000 — that comes out to $10,000 per match.

Season tickets will sell for $175. Per-match prices are still being nailed down.

The fact that Pete Sampras will be back on the Breakers might help with the selling. He’s expected to make his debut July 10, the Breakers’ third home match. The remainder of the roster will come from the March 27 World Team Tennis player draft.

World Team Tennis, in its 32nd season, consists of five sets: one each of men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Beyer said there will most likely be events geared toward youth in order to promote the Breakers. One such event would be a tennis tournament for young players.