The '99 Ryder Cup at The Country Club in Brookline, MA, 
     "will be the centerpiece" of an "impressive array of events"
     scheduled to take place in Boston that year, according to
     Will McDonough of the BOSTON GLOBE.  The Country Club has
     "already sold" 57 corporate tents at $250,000 each for the
     week.  That, along with TV revenues, ticket sales, and
     concessions and merchandising revenue means the event "will
     spin off" $90-100M.  Pat Moscaritolo, President of Boston's
     Visitors and Convention Bureau said "something like" 6,000
     of the city's hotel rooms "have already been booked for that
     week," half of the rooms in Boston.  In '99, Boston will
     also host MLB's All-Star Game at Fenway Park, two rounds of
     the NCAA basketball tournament at the FleetCenter, and The
     Davis Cup, with Foxboro being one of the finalists to host
     the Women's World Cup (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/12).

          ESPN announced the launch of ESPN Grill, a sports-
     themed restaurant, scheduled to open in Baltimore's Inner
     Harbor in '98 and in Chicago's River North neighborhood in
     '99.  ESPN plans to extend the concept in other major cities
     following the opening of the initial two locations (ESPN). 
     In Baltimore, Gary Gately writes that the ESPN Grill will
     open by the spring, and that visitors to the new restaurant
     will enter "a futuristic atrium immersed in everything
     sports."  The Grill will also "double" as ESPN studio sets,
     although "neither Disney nor ESPN would say how often
     broadcasts might be beamed from Baltimore" (SUN, 10/15). 
     Art Levitt, President of Disney Regional Entertainment, said
     that it plans to open three to five U.S. Grills a year and
     open outlets overseas (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/15).    

          The Women's Sports Foundation will hold its first
     "Women's Global Challenge" in the greater Washington, DC,
     region, from April 28-May 2, 1999.  The Challenge will
     include competition in basketball, beach volleyball, diving,
     figure skating, gymnastics, soccer (pending), swimming and
     track and field.  More than $2.3M will be raised for girl's
     sports programs and female athletes around the world
     (Women's Sports Foundation).  In Washington, Athelia Knight
     reports that the Washington region will also host the
     biennial event in 2001 (WASHINGTON POST, 10/15).
          TUBE TIME: Lifetime TV will telecast three days of the
     Women's Global Challenge, for a total of six hours of
     coverage (Lifetime).  CBS Sports will broadcast four hours
     of coverage spread over the five days of competition (CBS).