ARENA FOOTBALL LEAGUE LOOKS FORWARD TO UPCOMING SEASON

     The Arena Football League begins its 9th season this Friday
and is touting this year's changes:  A lineup of 13 teams, the
most in league history; five expansion teams (Memphis, St. Louis,
Iowa, San Jose and Connecticut); a new ESPN announcing crew; and,
a new revenue-sharing system featuring sports' first payroll tax.
ESPN's coverage will include Tom Mees, Steve Physioc, Rick "Doc"
Walker and Mike Mayock.  The league is on the Internet and has
its own "AFL World Wide Web Page."  The Las Vegas Sting became
the first AFL team to have their own Web site.  Address:
http://infolane.com/infolane/sting/ stinghp.html (AFL).  USA
TODAY examines AFL's goals for the upcoming season.  Among them:
League-wide attendance of 1 million for the first time; eventual
franchises in Mexico City, L.A., and New York; and making the
game more attractive to network TV (Larry Weisman, USA TODAY,
5/10).