The marketplace for sports on TV is "one of the strongest in
years -- with many a property commanding double-digit price
increases," according to Langdon Brockington & Mike Reynolds in
the latest issue of INSIDE MEDIA.  Some reasons?  1) It's a non-
Olympic year; 2) Sports spending is up in many categories,
especially autos, computers and telecomm; 3) More and more
advertisers are starting to view network TV as "an integral
element" of their marketing plans; 4) The NFL season shrunk from
18 weeks to 17 (INSIDE MEDIA, 11/30-12/13 issue).

     Former NFL kicker Raul Allegre has formed Laguna
Entertainment & Marketing -- with one of the first projects to
develop a TV show with information on Hispanic athletes serving
their communities.  Allegre, on "Super Show Deportivo":  "I want
Hispanic youth to see someone and say, 'Hey, this Hispanic guy
made it, so can I."  The NFL provides support to the show through
NFL Films (NFL)....An Orlando sports bar, Gator's Dockside, has
filed a class-action suit against ESPN claiming breach of
contract in connection to a fee for a series of 12 satellite
college football games.  Having discovered that other bars were
receiving the games for free, Gator's is seeking a refund for
itself and all establishments that paid for the service.  That
could be anywhere from $3M to $200M, according to Guy Haggard, an
attorney for Gator's (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 12/3). ....Denny Garver
and Eddy Clinton, the two TX broadcasters made famous by their
calls of the Tyler-Plano East high school game, will appear on
the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno on December 21 (MIAMI HERALD,
12/4).

     DC's WTEM-AM Sports Radio ("The Team") announced it will not
renew its contract with the Redskins for '95.  WTEM GM Bennett
Zier cited costs as the main issue.  Industry sources said WTEM
paid between $3.2 and 3.5 million for rights to the Redskins, not
counting production or talent costs.  Despite other talent
changes, Zier said the station will maintain its all-sports
format.  Other stations interested in the Redskins are WJFK-FM
and WMAL-AM, which had held the rights to the Redskins since the
early '40s before the Redskins signed with WTEM.  WJFK is owned
by Infinity Broadcasting, whose stations already own the rights
to five NFL teams, including the Cowboys and a new deal with the
Patriots (Leonard Shapiro, WASHINGTON POST, 12/3).

     News Corp. Chair Rupert Murdoch is profiled in the latest
issue of BUSINESS WEEK.  He's "fast becoming global sports
fanatic No. 1 as he scours the planet for games to fill the hours
on the worldwide TV mega-network he has spent the last decade
building."  Alistair Smellie, an analyst of European media for
Lehman Brothers, calls sports "the most important ingredient to
increase penetration into homes."  And John Mansell, a media
analyst for Paul Kagan Associates, notes:  "Others have used
sports to boost ratings and ad revenues.  But he's a pioneer in
recognizing the importance of global rights" (BUSINESS WEEK,
12/12 issue).
     NOT IMPRESSED:  During the post-match press conference at
the Advata Tennis Tour Championship at Key Biscayne, John McEnroe
blasted Murdoch, whose Fox TV network is bidding for the rights
to Wimbledon.  McEnroe:  "The person who owns Fox is single-
handedly responsible for a lot of what I find despicable.  These
type of people don't have anything to do with tennis.  I'm sure
he doesn't even know he's getting tennis -- if he gets it.  It's
all about some kind of power play. ... He's a low-life" (MIAMI
HERALD, 12/4).