Matthew Aguilar of USA TODAY profiles the 72,685-seat $185M
Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte. Although he describes all the
amenities for the fans, he says "the biggest winners might be the
players, who have three fields, state-of-the-art training
facilities, a huge 9,000-square-foot locker room and the biggest
perk of all: a permanent home" (USA TODAY, 8/30)....In today's
WALL STREET JOURNAL, John Heylar examines the NFL's "drift toward
one class of teams with big stadium revenues and big competitive
advantages," with a primary focus on the Panthers. Heylar points
out that Carolina has $95M of debt on their new stadium, is at
the NFL debt limit of $55M "on the team proper;" and as an
expansion team, it gets only a partial share of network TV
revenue in its first three years, $16.25M in '96, vs. $39M for
other clubs (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/30)....The PHILADELPHIA DAILY
NEWS included a 28-page insert entitled "Your Guide to the
CoreStates Center" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 8/29). Hockey
writer Les Brown of the DAILY NEWS previews the CoreStates Center
before its opening event, tomorrow's World Cup of Hockey contest
between USA and Canada (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 8/30)....Michael
Prentice of the OTTAWA CITIZEN, reports on Corel Centre
improvements, including a new 125-seat restaurant, called the
Penalty Box. So far, only 8,000 Senators season tickets have
been sold, including 900 in luxury suites. That figure is "well
short" of last year's 9,200 (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 8/30)....Rebecca
Walsh of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE writes that a proposal to name
West Valley City's new hockey arena after the Coors Brewing Co.
"is as good as dead. Reportedly, Morman Church leaders condemned
the idea of linking a beer company to the future home of the IHL
Utah Grizzlies, as well as 2002 Olympic hockey venue (SALT LAKE
TRIBUNE, 8/30).
