PSL FEVER IN ST. LOUIS AS RAMS GET OVER 72,000 APPLICATIONS

     "Beating the rap" that St. Louis is not a football town,
FANS Inc., the civic group in charge of bringing the Rams to St.
Louis, announced that 72,000 applications had been received for
46,000 personal seat license (PSL) slots.  The applications
included deposit checks ranging from $250 to $4,500.  Now, the
"last hurdle" between bringing the Rams from L.A. to St. Louis is
NFL owners, who will vote on the move in March.  Demand for the
PSL's is "so great" that one in every three applications will be
rejected by a computer that randomly selects PSL winners.  If an
applicant is not selected by the computer, they "will get a
choice of bowing out of the process and getting their deposit
back or being put on a waiting list."  Rams President John Shaw
said the response was "obviously overwhelmingly impressive."
(Lorraine Kee, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 2/9).  There were more
PSL requests than seats in the new-domed stadium, "even the
highest price PSL's ($4,500) were completely sold out"  (Mike
DiGiovanna, L.A. TIMES, 2/9).  FANS Inc. used a "combination of
television ads, infomercials, print ads and even a call to civic
pride to get area residents to buy PSL's" (Virgil Tipton, ST.
LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 2/9).