FRANCHISE NOTES

          NFL: Yesterday's Packers-Bucs game attracted a Houlihan
     Stadium record crowd of 73,523, with an estimated 30,000
     Green Bay fans on hand (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 12/8)....The crowd of
     73,446 at yesterday's Patriots-Jaguars game set an Alltell
     Stadium attendance record (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 12/8)....There
     were 27,160 no-shows yesterday in Chicago for the Bills-Bears
     game (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/8)....On "Fox NFL Sunday," James Brown
     reported, "At last week's NFL labor negotiation meetings, the
     Seattle Seahawks were not represented, the first public signs
     that organizational changes will be made by new owner Paul
     Allen" ("Fox NFL Sunday," 12/7).
          NHL: Devils Owner John McMullen, on Devils F Bill
     Guerin's claim that he ended his holdout to play in the
     Olympics: "The reason he signed was not the Olympic team.  It
     was money.  Everybody is trying to credit him with a noble
     deed.  But he overestimated his value.  And he overestimated
     his ability to embarrass us" (N.Y. POST, 12/6)....A group of
     Edmontonians interested in buying the Oilers met with Gary
     Bettman on Friday (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 12/6).