DESPITE LACK OF TEAM AND SITE, VIRGINIA LEASE TALKS UNDERWAY

     The VA Stadium Authority and telecom exec William Collins
have begun lease talks on a proposed $200M Northern VA baseball
stadium.  The "high stakes poker game" comes even though Collins
has yet to be awarded an MLB franchise and an actual site for the
facility will not be chosen until March.  According to the
WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL, both sides agree a lease and
financing package would show MLB that Northern VA "has its act
together" and is worthy of a team.  Thus far, Collins has
proposed a one-half-cent local sales tax hike to help pay for the
facility.  Previously, the Collins group stated it would
contribute at least $30M over a 10-year period to offset
construction costs, and an additional $7M a year in operating
costs (John Lombardo, WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/23 issue).