STEELERS PRESIDENT SPEAKS OUT ON NEW BALLPARK

     In Pittsburgh, Steelers President Dan Rooney is "skeptical"
of Mayor Tom Murphy's plans to build a new ballpark for the
Pirates, saying that it "won't cure the Pirates financial ills --
 and the city can't afford it."  With a $44M debt still "hanging
over" Three Rivers Stadium, Rooney questions whether the city can
afford to finance a new park.  According to Kenneth Shropshire,
an economist at Wharton School of Economics, since '92, American
cities "have spent more than" $1B to renovate or construct new
stadiums or arenas, and $6B will likely be spent by 1999.  But,
Rooney doesn't feel that building new facilities is the only way
to make more money.  Rather, Rooney suggest that the NFL share
stadium revenues as they do with gate and TV receipts (Steve
Halvonik, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 2/21).