THE ECONOMICS OF SHAQ

     The economic boost provided by the signing of Shaquille
O'Neal for the Lakers was profiled by CNN's Brent Weber on "This
Week in the NBA."  The team's season ticket base is up from 9,000
last season to 14,100 for the '96-97 season.  Projections call
for 17,505 fans per game, generating $30M in ticket revenue
compared to 15,845 fans per game and $21.8M in ticket revenue in
'95-96.  But Weber notes if the Lakers don't contend and the
attendance drops as it did in the post-Magic Johnson era, "even
additional skybox revenues from a planned new arena might not be
enough to cover the last four years of a heavily back-loaded
contract that will see O'Neal average $20 million in that span
(CNN, 10/27).  O'Neal's "splash" in L.A. is also featured in
NEWSWEEK, under the header, "Strutting His Stuff" (NEWSWEEK, 11/4
issue).