TCI/LIBERTY ENTER SWEEPSTAKES FOR CANADA'S SPORTS CHANNEL

     A group led by management at Labatt Communications' The
Sports Network have been given until Monday to secure financing
for their bid for Labatt's broadcast assets, estimated at C$630M,
according to this morning's FINANCIAL POST.  Belgian brewer,
Interbew SA, which launched a friendly takeover of Labatt last
week, has to sell the company's broadcasting holdings to comply
with Canadian law.  The Labatt group includes Labatt
Communications (LCI) Chair Gordon Craig, LCI COO Richard Peddie,
TSN President Jim Thompson, with backing from John McCaw of
Northwest Entertainment Group, ESPN, and Stephen Bronfman of
Montreal-based Claridge Inc.  Their competition includes a bid
from Alliance Communications, which has joined forces with
Liberty Media, an off-shoot of TCI.  By allying with Liberty,
Alliance hopes for the "same strategic fit" that LCI management
has with ESPN.  Other bidders:  Western Int'l Communications,
Astral Communications and CanWest Global Communications (Gayle
MacDonald, FINANCIAL POST, 6/16).