Of the 15 NFL home openers this weekend, seven teams
are sold out. As of late Wednesday, non-sellouts included
the Ravens with 3,175 tickets remaining; the Dolphins with
about 7,900; the Bucs with about 14,000; the Seahawks with
15,000; the Bills with 18,000; and the Lions with
approximately 31,000. The number of tickets remaining for
Oilers and Bengals were not available (THE DAILY). In
Baltimore, the Ravens have requested "a one-day extension"
to avoid a blackout (Baltimore SUN, 8/28)....In Miami,
Armando Salguero reports that the Dolphins string of 29
consecutive home sellouts "is in jeopardy" (MIAMI HERALD,
8/28)....In Tampa, Carter Gaddis reports that the Bucs
season-ticket base is "believed to be around 35,000," up
from about 25,000 last year (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 8/28).
COLTS: Despite the sides being "millions of dollars
apart," Colts Owner Jim Irsay said that "within a month" the
team and the city could reach a deal to keep the franchise
in town. Irsay: "I think this deal will get done" (Kathleen
Johnston, INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 8/28).
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND: The HOUSTON CHRONICLE
received more than 30,000 responses to its survey on whether
the Oilers should be the primary NFL team covered by the
paper. More than 22,000, or 76%, said the Oilers should not
be the primary focus; 6,892 approve of Oilers coverage and
476 had no opinion (David Barron, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/28).
