The United Baseball League, which hopes to begin play in
'96, will announce six charter franchises today -- Los Angeles,
New Orleans, New York, San Juan, Vancouver and Washington. The
league has scheduled a telephone news conference to make the
announcement. The New Orleans team will reportedly play at the
Superdome, the Washington team at RFK Stadium, the Vancouver team
at B.C. Place and the San Juan team will play at Hiram Bithorn
Stadium (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 2/14). As for L.A., two sites
under consideration are the L.A. Coliseum and a stadium in the
Riverside-San Bernadino area. Three sites are under
consideration in New York: Brooklyn, Northern NJ and the Nassau-
Suffolk County border on Long Island (VANCOUVER SUN, 2/14).
ARE ALL THE I'S DOTTED? In Vancouver, B.C. Place officials
indicated "that any rumored deal is far from being done." B.C.
Place GM Neil Campbell, after being told about the AP report that
has the UBL announcing its franchise cities: "We have not made
any arrangements with the United League. ... Officials from the
United League have talked to us and looked at our stadium. But
so far we have not heard from any specific owner and there's been
no work done on a lease arrangement or on other terms." The UBL
is organized by former MLBPA official Dick Moss and former U.S.
Rep. Bob Mrazek. The league hopes to begin the '96 season with
8-12 franchises (Terry Bell, Vancouver PROVINCE, 2/14).
