14 Facts About Lamar Hunt

In Kansas City, Hunt helped establish the Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun theme parks.

Lamar Hunt was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972; into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1982; and into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993.

Lamar Hunt attempted to purchase the NFL's Chicago Cardinals franchise in 1959 with the intention to move them to Dallas, but was again turned down.

In 1967 Lamar Hunt helped promote professional soccer in the United States.

In 1967, Lamar Hunt founded the Dallas Tornado as members of the United Soccer Association.

Lamar Hunt was an active advocate for the sport and the league and the Dallas Tornado won the NASL championship in 1971 and were runners-up in 1973.

Lamar Hunt returned to soccer as one of the original founding investors of Major League Soccer, which debuted in 1996.

In 1999, Lamar Hunt financed the construction of the venue now known as Mapfre Stadium, the second, and first since 1913, of several large soccer-specific stadiums in the USA.

In 2003, Lamar Hunt purchased a third team, the Dallas Burn, after announcing that he would partially finance the construction of their own soccer-specific stadium.

In 1968, Lamar Hunt co-founded the World Championship Tennis circuit, which gave birth to the Open Era of tennis.

Lamar Hunt was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993.

Lamar Hunt was the founder of two theme parks in Kansas City: Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun, which opened in 1973 and 1982 respectively.

In September 1988, the Lamar Hunt brothers filed for bankruptcy under the United States Bankruptcy Code Chapter 11.

Lamar Hunt died December 13,2006, at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas of complications related to prostate cancer.