NASCAR and Las Vegas' Sahara Hotel and Casino have
     agreed to develop a NASCAR Cafe family entertainment complex
     within the existing Sahara Casino.  The complex will carry
     the NASCAR Cafe banner and will include a 400-seat upstairs
     dining area, as well as a dual track ride where guests race
     in simulated NASCAR Winston Cup race cars on a roller
     coaster type track through the Cafe.  In addition, an
     existing 35,000-square-foot venue called SpeedWorld will be
     converted to the NASCAR Cafe theme, featuring virtual
     reality racing simulators and two 3-D motion simulator
     theatres.  The Las Vegas NASCAR Cafe, scheduled to open in
     early '99, will be the chain's fourth outlet, joining
     locations in Myrtle Beach, Nashville and Orlando (NASCAR).
          VIVA LAS VEGAS: NASCAR made its Las Vegas debut with
     the Las Vegas 400, but it "won't go down as the kind of
     exciting show NASCAR or the city is famous for providing,"
     according to Holly Cain of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. 
     Although many of the capacity crowd of 107,000 "remained
     seated" during the race and "some fans even left before" it
     ended, "most" of the crowd "appeared to enjoy its
     experience."  Traffic delays "made for lots of late
     arrivals," but the Speedway hired .38 Special to play a
     concert after the race to "alleviate some of the post-race
     congestion" (Holly Cain, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/2). 

          Total attendance for the Advanta Championships men's
     tennis tournament at Philadelphia's CoreStates Center was
     30,420, "down almost 9,000 from last year," according to
     Bill Fleischman of the PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS.  IMG is in
     its second year as owner and operator of the event. 
     CoreStates "was about three-quarters full" for yesterday's
     final in which Pete Sampras defeated Thomas Enqvist. 
     Sampras said after the match: "The (tournament) seems to
     have lost its luster.  The crowds were very sparse, to say
     the least."  Fleischman writes that while Sampras "was the
     only marquee" player at the event, "what's alarming to IMG
     and Advanta is, even people who had tickets from sponsors
     for the seats closest to the court didn't show up."  IMG's
     Barbara Perry, the tournament's Exec Dir, said a decision
     would be made on the event's future "within a month" (DAILY
     NEWS, 3/2).  More Sampras: "Six, seven years ago [the event]
     was packed, but it seems like each year it's gotten worse. 
     If people aren't going to come out and support it, I'm sure
     there's another city that will" (PHILA. INQUIRER, 3/2).
          ONE TOURNAMENT TOWN? Philadelphia "is the only U.S.
     city other than New York that hosts both men's and women's
     tournaments."  IMG's Perry: "Maybe it's reached a point
     where cities can't support both.  When we bought this event
     last year, we knew it would be tough, but we want to try to
     make it work" (Ray Parrillo, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 2/28).