Lieberman Pulls the Plug on World TeamTennis in O.C. : Dukes: Owner sells franchise back to league, which will not have team in Southern California next season.

What has been rumored for months became official Tuesday.

No, the Rams didn’t announce they are leaving Orange County. But the Newport Beach Dukes of World TeamTennis did.

After failing to find a local buyer for his franchise, Dukes owner Fred Lieberman announced he is selling the team back to the league. A WTT spokesman said it will not place a team in Newport Beach or in Southern California in 1995, but plans to return to the area in 1996.

Ilana Kloss, the league’s executive director, was in New York on business and unavailable for comment. Six months ago, Kloss confirmed that there would be a franchise in Southern California in 1995. With the Los Angeles Strings franchise folding two years ago, the Sacramento Capitals are the only WTT franchise in California.

Lieberman and Kloss have had their differences over Lieberman’s five years as Dukes owner. Ultimately, Lieberman said it was “philosophical differences” that caused him to sell the franchise back to the league.

Though Lieberman said he made money in four of five seasons, he said turning a profit became increasingly difficult each year because of the league’s business policies.

“We do all the work and they take the money,” Lieberman said. “The power was not centralized with the owners, but with the league . . . And that’s the opposite of the way the NFL does business.”

Lieberman said the WTT covered 72% of his “player-related expenses” during his first season of 1990. But in 1993, he said only 6% of those expenses were covered by the league. Lieberman said he still managed to have his most profitable season in 1993 because of high local sponsorship dollars and big crowds that came out to see Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg.

But Lieberman said attendance fell off some 8% last year at the John Wayne Tennis Club and sponsorship was down some 15%.

“Had I gotten even 40% to 50% from the league this could have been a business equivalent to running a major women’s tour event,” Lieberman said.

So in February, 1994, Lieberman notified the league that he would sell his franchise back to the league if he could not sell to a third party. Lieberman said he came close to making several deals to local buyers who would have kept the Dukes in Orange County, but all of them fell through.

In addition to his differences with the league, Lieberman also said he wanted to spend more time with his wife and two sons.

“I worked my (butt) off,” he said. “During the season, I work from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. on match days and from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. on non-match days,” he said. “Part of that is my fear of failure energy and the other part is, that’s the only way I can do this and be successful.”

The Dukes have been the league’s most successful team over the last three years, reaching the WTT finals in 1992 and 1993 and becoming the first team to have an undefeated regular season in 1994.

Angel Lopez, who coached the Dukes last year to the WTT semifinals, said he hadn’t heard of Lieberman’s decision.

“That’s bad news,” Lopez said. “I didn’t hear anything. I was kept in the dark. I just heard rumors, but I thought they were going to keep a team in Newport Beach or Irvine.”

Lopez said he will travel on the women’s tour with Zina Garrison, who played for the Dukes the last two seasons, this year and be her personal coach.

Lieberman said he will continue promoting tennis, but he’s sorry to leave World TeamTennis.

“I’m very sad and disappointed,” he said. “This is five years of my life, five tempestuous years.”

Lieberman added: “There’s those who say I’m a sponsor away from starting a new team tennis league. There’s nobody better in this business than me. Nobody has the passion that I do.”