MARKETPLACE ROUND-UP

          NIKE NEWS: Wizards F Chris Webber, on his former
     relationship with Nike: "I don't want to just downgrade
     Nike, they are a great company.  They did a lot for me. ...
     Fila's a great company, they gave me a great shoe, and they
     helped me do it my way" ("Up Close," ESPN, 10/28)....In
     BRANDWEEK, Benezra & Stanley write that former Nike ad chief
     Scott Bedbury thinks the company might be "courting
     disaster" unless it deals with questions over conditions in
     its manufacturing plants overseas (BRANDWEEK, 10/27 issue).
          GENERAL: USA Baseball extended its exclusive license
     with CA-based Fotoball Sports through the 2000 Olympic Games
     in Sydney, Australia.  The license will include souvenir
     novelty baseballs and lapel pins (USA Baseball)....Merkley
     Newman Harty, NY, part of Omnicom Group, will be the first
     agency to develop national marketing and advertising
     strategy for the Nat'l Thoroughbred Racing Assn.  Billings
     were "estimated" at $12-15M (N.Y. TIMES, 10/28)....Charles
     Schwab & Co., Inc. named Steve Elkington to its "Team
     Schwab" of pro athletes (Charles Schwab)....Gold Medal
     Management extended its representation agreement with Dan
     O'Brien through 2001 (Gold Medal Management)....Despite
     resigning a month ago, former ASU Basketball Coach Bill
     Frieder "will continue to star" in TV ads for Bank One with
     Univ. of AZ Coach Lute Olson (AZ REPUBLIC, 10/29).