History
Ted Collins, a former Columbia Phonograph executive who had become the manager and partner of popular singer Kate Smith, was interested in professional sports. In the late 1930s, he had a team called the Kate Smith Celtics in the American Basketball League.
That team went out of business, and in 1944 Collins decided he'd try football. He wanted a franchise in New York City, with a team to be called the Yanks, but he had to settle for Boston, though the team name remained the same.
The Yanks never had a winning season in Boston. Collins was given permission to move the franchise to New York in 1949, when he renamed his team the Bulldogs. They became the Yanks once again in 1950. That was the team's only winning season. After a 1-9-2 record in 1951, Collins gave up on his losing investment in pro football.