Leonard Bloom is a former sports and entertainment owner and real estate developer in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Sports

Owner- San Diego Conquistadors (American Basketball Association "ABA")

ABA / NBA Merger

The

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(that later merged with the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

) awarded Dr. Leonard Bloom the franchise to San Diego for an entry fee of $1 million. Leonard Bloom, President and CEO of United States Capital Corporation, was the team's sole owner. Bloom named the team the

San Diego Conquistadors The San Diego Conquistadors (known as the San Diego Sails in their final, partial season) were a professional basketball team based in San Diego, California, that competed in the American Basketball Association (ABA). The "Q's", as they were popul ...

. The ABA purchased the San Diego Conquistadors franchise from Dr. Bloom for an undisclosed amount to enable the ABA merger with the NBA. The San Diego Clippers originated from the Buffalo Braves in the 1978-79 NBA season and had no connection to Dr. Bloom's San Diego Conquistadors/Sails, which ceased operations during the 1975-76 ABA season.

Owner- Los Angeles Sharks (World Hockey Association "WHA")

WHA / NHL Merger

In addition to owning the San Diego Basketball franchise, Leonard Bloom also owned the

Los Angeles Sharks The Los Angeles Sharks were an ice hockey team that played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 to 1974. Their primary home arena was the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena but they sometimes played at the Long Beach Sports Arena when t ...

Hockey Team in the WHA (

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

) that later merged with the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

in 1979. The Sharks played all of their home hockey games at the

Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park, in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and just south of the campus of the University of ...

. Dr. Bloom renovated the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena to accommodate his hockey team. The Los Angeles Sharks franchise has no connection with the present day San Jose Sharks, an NHL expansion franchise begun in 1991, 12 years after the WHA ceased operations.

Co-Founder / Owner- World Team Tennis League (WTT)

The World Team Tennis (WTT) Professional Tennis league was founded in 1973 by four people:

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

(owner of San Francisco Golden Gaters), Dr. Leonard Bloom (original owner of the San Diego Swingers, owner of the ABA San Diego Conquistadors, and owner of the WHA Los Angeles Sharks) with Dennis Murphy (founder of the

), and Jordan Kaiser. The WTT was organized and started with Billie Jean King securing the professional tennis players on the women's side. Dr. Bloom, along with Wilt Chamberlain and Arthur Ashe, secured the professional players on the men's side. Leonard Bloom was one of the original founders of

World Team Tennis World TeamTennis (WTT) was a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally took place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA would ...

(WTT) with

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

and Dennis Murphy. Bloom was the founder / owner of the San Diego Swingers WTT franchise.

Sports & Entertainment Venues

Dr. Bloom has been the sole owner and operator of large, successful sports and entertainment facilities in San Francisco, San Diego, La Mesa and Fort Lauderdale.

Ticketing

Leonard Bloom owned & operated one of the largest and most profitable ticketing companies in the United States called Bass Tickets. Certain rights and locations were later purchased by Ticketmaster.

Entertainment

Leonard Bloom is the CEO and sole owner of Marquee Entertainment Corporation. For many years, Leonard Bloom's Marquee Entertainment Corporation has contracted and in many cases managed the top entertainers in the country for performances in Bloom-owned venues and for national and international tours.

References

{{reflist Bloom, Leonard Businesspeople from San Diego