The Marlins have one season left on their deals with WQAM-
AM, the Sunshine Network and WBFS-TV. WQAM may face competition
from WIOD and WINZ, and Sunshine is likely to face a bid from
SportsChannel. WBFS wants to keep the Marlins despite losing
money for the first time this year. The station is open to a
situation similar to their Panthers deal, in which Sunshine buys
time to air the games. The Marlins do not favor a time-buy
(MIAMI HERALD, 9/29)....TSN, Canada's cable sports channel, was
not able to work out a deal for an NBA game of the week package.
TSN VP of Programming Rick Brace cited the league's rights fee
demand and conflicts between league and TSN sponsors. In other
TSN news, the channel launched its expanded news approach on
"SportsDesk" as well as its Internet site and 900-number info
service. TSN's Web address: http://www.tsn.ca (TORONTO STAR,
9/29)...."The fX Sports Show" on Fox's cable outlet touts itself
as having the only football statistics ticker on TV. The ticker,
which runs continuously throughout the live, hour-long sports
show on Sundays at 11pm EDT, includes player and team stats on
that day's games (fX)....Special Order Sports, Prime Sports
Southwest's pay-per-view division, has acquired the rights to
four SWC football games to show on a PPV basis (Prime
Sports)....Rudy Martzke reports ABC's college football coverage
is down 12% in ratings, NBC's Notre Dame games are down 28%, and
ESPN's games are down 27%. The new bowl alliance is cited as a
possible reason, with games not involving No. 1 and No. 2
becoming "relatively meaningless" (USA TODAY, 9/29)....Sega,
DreamWorks SKG and MCA have formed a joint venture to design and
build "entertainment centers" featuring high-tech attractions and
virtual reality games (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/29)...."Hoop
Dreams" stars William Gates and Arthur Agee were in St. Paul to
film "A Hoop Dreams Reunion," which will air after the film's
debut on PBS on November 15 (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 9/29)....
Chargers punter Darren Bennett, a 6-foot-5, 240 pound former
Australian Rules Football player, has established his own Web
site as a way to keep Australian fans up to date on his progress
in the NFL. Address: http://www.webcom./~pagnews/ darren.html
(AP/ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 9/29)....The Associated Press has
joined America Online as a media partner, with the deal bringing
AP's "MegaSports" package to AOL's sports area (AD AGE ONLINE,
9/29)....ESPN2 celebrates its second anniversary October 1. The
channel now reaches 25 million homes, up from its launch in 10
million homes. ESPN2, which goes up on PrimeStar's DBS service
on October 1, hopes to reach more than 30 million homes next year
(ESPN2)....Liberty Sports has purchased an undisclosed amount (at
least 10%) of the AFL Miami Hooters. Liberty VP Dave Almstead
called it a "unique opportunity" and said it was not part of any
"strategic positioning" to buy into teams (MIAMI HERALD,
9/29)....To the "disappointment" of the Heat, flagship station
WINZ-AM has decided not to broadcast over Ft. Lauderdale's WFTL-
AM, leaving some Broward fans in a Heat-free zone (Ft. Lauderdale
SUN-SENTINEL, 9/29).
