News Corp. Chair Rupert Murdoch said yesterday Fox
would buy an NFL franchise for L.A. "if no one else steps
forward," according to Zipay & Gergen of NEWSDAY. Murdoch,
at a news conference: "We would love to see an NFC franchise
in that market." He said an L.A. team "would be great not
only for the NFL, but for our owned and operated station
(KTTV) there." Murdoch said Fox will continue with the NFL,
but he wondered if CBS would "come after us or go after
something cheaper. If we lost this one (the NFC), we'd go
after another (NFL package)." Murdoch also added Fox may
bid on golf tournaments and "whatever else comes along,"
possibly including the NBA (NEWSDAY, 1/27)...NFL contract
negotiations for its next TV deal is examined by David
Leonhardt of BUSINESS WEEK. Industry analysts predict an
increase of 25-40% from the league's current $1.1B in annual
TV revenue. Leonhardt writes of all the incumbent networks,
"ABC may be the most vulnerable" (BUSINESS WEEK, 2/3 issue).
NEWS & NOTES: The NFL Experience is profiled by Bob
Duffy of the BOSTON GLOBE. The 85,000-100,000 who visited
the NFL Experience "were still trying to recover from the
sensory assault" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/27).....ESPN's Mitch
Albom, on the death of Patterson and the NFL's halftime
show: "This whole Super Bowl extravaganza is out of control,
... Is there anyone to say 'wait a second, this is too
dangerous,' or is the NFL like an egotistical movie director
so caught up in the shot it ignores everything else? ...
Commissioner Tagliabue used the right word, perspective, but
it's not the rest of us who have it out of focus, it's him"
("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 1/26).
