FACILITY NOTES

          NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Devil Rays officials are
     studying feedback from fans after Tuesday's opener at
     Tropicana Field.  A number of fans sitting in the far left
     and right corners of the field "said they could not see the
     action."  Their complaint was that the seats were "too low"
     and that a protective net, put there to "protect the fans,"
     blocked their view (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 4/2)....Bank One
     Ballpark has 58 ad signs inside the stadium, and there's "at
     least one more to come," as Bank One doesn't have its own
     sign yet (Ringolsby & Etkin, ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 4/2).
     ...D'Backs Manager Buck Showalter received numerous phone
     calls in the dugout from fans during the franchise opener on
     Tuesday. Showalter: "Someone in one of the suites must have
     got hold of the number" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/2).
          NOTES: The MD Stadium Authority is profiled by Stephen
     Fehr in the WASHINGTON POST.  Fehr: "[T]he agency has become
     Maryland's master builder, going beyond sports facilities to
     convention centers, museums, office buildings and perhaps
     even a theater in Baltimore" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/2)....In
     Seattle, fans will get the opportunity to pay around $99 to
     put their name on a tile in a main concourse near the
     outfield seats of the Mariners new ballpark.  The Public
     Facilities District estimates that sales of 10,000 to 15,000
     tiles "would generate more than" $1M.  What the money is
     used for "remains to be decided" (SEATTLE TIMES, 4/1).