The IHL and its players are close to finalizing a new CBA.
The IHL sought a hard salary cap, "but it might have to settle
for a strict taxation on teams that exceed a dollar amount
expected to be approximately $1.3 million per team." Also, the
IHL will maintain a franchise in Phoenix to compete with the
NHL's Coyotes (Neil Hohlfeld, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/26). The
league approved transfer of ownership of the Roadrunners to the
Arizona Sports & Entertainment Group (IHL)....MLS has named
Hewlett-Packard as a Corporate Partner and "Official Computer" of
the league and each of its ten teams. The deal provides H-P with
exclusivity in the computer category, league and team logo
rights, ads in game programs and spots during MLS broadcasts on
ESPN and ESPN2 (MLS)....The U.S. Pro Tennis Championships in
Boston will return in '97 as an ATP event. The tournament, which
had been staged as an exhibition for the past few years and is on
hiatus this year, will be played in late August as a tune-up for
the U.S. Open (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/25)....The American Tennis
Association, which has a membership of 8,000 black professionals
and amateurs, will move from Washington, DC, to Fort Lauderdale.
Philadelphia, Richmond and West Palm Beach were also considered
(MIAMI HERALD, 6/25).
