TWI PART OF JOINT $170M BID FOR ENGLISH SOCCER LEAGUE RIGHTS

          The English Premier soccer league has agreed "to a
     record-breaking" $170M, three-year deal with a joint venture
     involving IMG's Mark McCormack and French pay TV group Canal
     Plus for TV rights outside the U.K., according to Juliana
     Koranteng of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.  The deal, which will
     "sell international broadcasters matches involving the
     league's 20 teams, almost quadruples" the $15.3M paid
     annually by previous rights holder CSI since '92.  Although
     the deal has not been confirmed, the Premier League "is said
     to have preferred the offer" from McCormack's TWI and Canal
     Plus because "it promised to extend the games' reach from
     Europe and Australia to the much-coveted Asian market"
     (Juliana Koranteng, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 11/17).