Anaheim officials announced plans yesterday for Sportstown
Anaheim, a 159-acre sports, entertainment, retail and office
complex that would surround Anaheim Stadium and help boost the
region's economy, according to the L.A. TIMES.  The complex will
be divided into five sections, one including a new football
stadium.  Anaheim City Manager James Ruth said the city will know
"within 90 days" whether they will have an NFL team to replace
the Rams.  Plans also call for Anaheim Stadium to be renovated
into a baseball-only facility, a youth sports center called
"Little a," two new hotels and a western-themed area with
restaurants, stores and a stage to link the stadium area with the
Pond.  Sportstown Anaheim would also include a monorail
connecting to Disneyland.  Officials would not reveal costs or a
timetable.  Officials also said they are counting on partnerships
with private developers, but representatives from the Walt Disney
Co. were not present yesterday.  NFL Dir of Communications Greg
Aiello said the league would not comment on the project (Greg
Hernandez, L.A. TIMES, 1/4).

     As negotiations continue in Dallas on a new arena for the
Stars and Mavericks, officials in Arlington "refuse to abandon
hope" that their city could be home to the teams, according to
the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM.  While Ft. Worth Mayor Richard
Greene concedes a Dallas city plan to heavily subsidize an arena
makes it likely an arena will be built in downtown Dallas, he is
not withdrawing Arlington's offer to build a $140M multi-use
facility with luxury boxes and sky suites.  Reports this week
indicate that Dallas has offered Mavericks Owner Donald Carter
$43M in cash toward construction of a $141M arena.  In addition,
Dallas would provide tax incentives worth $88M and not require
the Mavericks to begin making lease payments for five years
(Christopher Ave, FT. WORTH STAR TELEGRAM, 1/4).

     MA Transportation Secretary James Kerasiotes, Massport Chief
Stephen Tocco, and MassBay Transportation Authority GM Patrick
Moynihan met Tuesday to come up with a plan to bridge a $30-40M
funding gap in Patriots Owner Robert Kraft's proposal to build a
new 70,000-seat South Boston football stadium, according to the
BOSTON GLOBE.  Kerasiotes and Moynihan are seeking ways to pay
for infrastructure improvements necessary to avoid overwhelming
residential neighborhoods with traffic.  A source in the Weld
administration said officials will respond to Kraft by the end of
January (David Halbfinger, BOSTON GLOBE, 1/3).

     Under pressure from the Bears and union leaders, Chicago
Mayor Richard Daley "softened" his opposition to the so-called
McDome yesterday and said he "won't stand in the way" if IL Gov.
Jim Edgar can finance the project through the six-county
metropolitan Chicago area, according to the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Edward Bedore, Daley's stadium point man:  "To use a sports term,
the mayor has passed the football to Edgar and Edgar has to come
up with a plan and see if he can run with it."  Bears VP/Ops Ted
Philips said Daley's shift shows the Mayor has finally admitted
the Soldier Field renovation has been rejected.  Daley denied
that was the case, in the event that neither McDome nor the Gary
stadium is built.  Mike Lawrence, Edgar's press secretary, said
the governor will develop a McDome financing plan that will
likely include taxes on restaurant meals, hotels, rental cars,
limousines, and airport taxis.  Daley has opposed all of these
taxes in the past.  In stating his position, Daley told Edgar the
Bears must also agree to repay taxpayers if the team chooses to
leave before its lease is up.  Meanwhile, Bears officials met
with Gary officials yesterday and came out of meetings stating
the Planet Park development is still on track for a mid-February
tax vote (Speilman & Gillis, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 1/4).

     The state is unlikely to offer funding help to the Lions in
their search for a new stadium, according to David Barkholz of
CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS.  Doug Rothwell, CEO of the MI Jobs
Commission, said MI Gov. John Engler "is disinclined" to get
involved in talks on either a new stadium or Silverdome
renovations.  Rothwell, drawing a distinction between the Lions'
request and the state's $55M infrastructure pledge for a new
Tiger Stadium:  "On the one hand, you have a downtown-
redevelopment program for an antiquated ballpark.  With the
Lions, it's basically a lease dispute."  The Lions estimate a new
downtown facility would cost about $200M (CRAIN'S DETROIT
BUSINESS, 1/1 issue).

     The NFL paid $70,000 to revamp the practice fields at
Scottsdale Community College for the AFC champion to practice on
during the Super Bowl.  Nebraska tore up the field while
practicing for the Fiesta Bowl, and the NFL will pay an
additional $30,000 to re-sod, reseed and repair the field (Bland
& Obert, ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/3)....A nine-page supplement
appeared in the January 1 TENNESSEAN -- "Here's The Ticket: A
Fan's Guide To Buying Permanent Seat Licenses" (Nashville
TENNESSEAN, 1/1)....Criminal charges will not be filed against
former Orlando Arena Dir Joanne Grant, who was forced to quit 14
months ago amid allegations she traded tickets for favors and
hired employees for personal chores during work hours (Dan Tracy,
ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/4).