News of the U.S. 500 moving from Michigan Int'l Speedway to
the Homestead Motorsports complex in FL is "premature," but
informed sources indicate "exploratory discussions have taken
place" (NATIONAL SPEED SPORT NEWS, 8/21 issue)....AUTOWEEK notes
despite "sub-par" ticket sales, the IRL True Value 200 in New
Hampshire was "a financial success." Funded largely by True
Value, the track paid the IRL's $1M purse and track Owner Bob
Bahre received close to $1M from the IRL's live TV package with
ABC (AUTOWEEK, 8/26 issue)....MLS is drawing around 135,000 TV
viewers weekly on ESPN2 -- "not far behind pro hockey," according
to BUSINESS WEEK. More "good news" is that 60% of the audience
is under the age of 34 (BUSINESS WEEK, 9/2 issue). MLS is also
profiled in NEW YORK magazine. Adam Lehner notes "while soccer
has become more popular than Little League baseball, it still
does not have a clear identity here" (NEW YORK, 8/26
issue)....Special master John Friedenthal will hold a special
hearing Wednesday over the salary cap implications of several NFL
players. The NFL and NFLPA are in dispute whether the league can
require teams to save space under the salary cap for the '96
season in case they decide in the future to exercise financial
options that affect future seasons. The NFLPA argues teams
should make decisions as the course of managing a roster and
taking the decision out of their hands can give teams an excuse
for not signing other players (WASHINGTON POST, 8/24).
