Prior to the groundbreaking of his new arena in downtown DC
this fall, Abe Pollin will merge the business aspects of his
sports holdings into one entity, THE SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY has
learned. That entity will be called "Washington Sports" and will
be headed by Susan O'Malley. Pollin started a consolidation
effort last year when sponsorship sales for his teams were
brought together under Capitol Region Sports Marketing. In
describing the outline of the new changes, Bullets Dir of Public
Relations Matt Williams said it was a "first step in a
streamlining process" prior to moving into the new building. In
addition to the two teams, the Centre Group, which manages
operations at USAir Arena, Baltimore Arena and the Patriot Center
will also fall under Washington Sports. O'Malley will remain as
President of the Bullets, while Wes Unseld, presently Exec VP of
the Bullets, will add the No. 2 position at Washington Sports to
his duties. The basketball and hockey operations will not be
changed, meaning Capitals President Dick Patrick will continue to
oversee the "hockey side" of Pollin's business. While the change
is aimed at "streamlining" business operations, Williams said
there have been no decisions made yet on the elimination or
merging of positions on the staffs of the the two teams (THE
DAILY).