NBA: The Sonics will not increase any ticket prices for
     the '98-'99 season -- which range from $7 to $100.  John
     Dresel, President of Full House, the Sonics' business arm:
     "Despite continued increases in operating costs, our ongoing
     efforts to maximize nonticket revenue have made it possible
     this year for us to hold prices at the '97-'98 level"
     (SEATTLE TIMES, 4/1)....The Raptors apologized and offered
     free tickets to fans "inconvenienced by Tuesday's ticket
     confusion" at Maple Leaf Garden (TORONTO SUN, 4/2).
     ...FanMail Inc. President Budd Nesi -- who has been handling
     the Pacers' correspondence for three years -- said the team
     has averaged 12,000 to 15,000 pieces of mail each year,
     which is up about 20% this season due to new coach Larry
     Bird and the team's improved performance (STAR-NEWS, 4/2). 
          NOTES: Twins GM Terry Ryan, on the team's exhibition
     game Tuesday in NC: "A lot of people there want us to move
     there, but a lot of people with the ballclub want to stay in
     Minnesota.  It was a little awkward" (Minneapolis STAR
     TRIBUNE, 4/2).  In St. Paul, Charley Walters writes, "Good
     bet: The Twins, without a place to go, return to the
     Metrodome for the 1999 season after negotiating a one-year
     lease" (PIONEER PRESS, 4/2).....ESPN's Peter Gammons noted
     that both Cliff Politte, the Cardinals rookie RHP who will
     make his first start today, and Cardinals President Mark
     Lamping, are graduates of Vianney HS in St. Louis.  Gammons:
     "In honor of Politte's debut the entire school will be
     closed, and all 800 students will be guests of the Cardinals
     at Busch Stadium.  Another reason St. Louis is the best
     baseball town in America" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 4/1).

          News Corp. Chair Rupert Murdoch "is near agreement on
     deals to buy part of the new Staples Center and part of the
     Lakers," according to Heisler & Hofmeister of the L.A.
     TIMES.  Under the deals, "which would be announced in
     stages, Fox would purchase 40% of the arena and a similar
     percentage" of the NHL Kings' option to buy a piece of the
     Lakers.  Because the Kings' option is for 25% of the Lakers,
     Fox would become a 10% owner.  One source: "It's a done
     deal, at least as far as the arena is concerned."  Fox has
     cable rights to the Dodgers, Lakers, Kings and Clippers and
     is "pushing to hold on to those rights as part of its
     rivalry" with Disney, which will form ESPN West.  Heisler &
     Hofmeister report that the Fox Group originally tried to
     purchase 40% of the entire Kings franchise, but "was turned
     down" by the NHL because Fox has a 20% stake in Madison
     Square Garden -- as part of its Fox/Liberty entity -- making
     it a minority Owner of the Rangers.  Fox then restructured
     the deal to purchase the Kings' arena and their option on
     the Lakers.  A source "close to the negotiations," said the
     deal would give Murdoch "creeping control of the Kings,
     through the backdoor."  Fox's MSG stake also give it a share
     of the Knicks, but NBA rules allow minority owners to hold
     noncontrolling shares of multiple teams (L.A. TIMES, 4/2).

          NFL VP/Communications Greg Aiello said that the NFL
     could take "months" to evaluate 49ers co-Owner Eddie
     DeBartolo's offer to buy out his sister Denise DeBartolo
     York's share of the team, according to Matier & Ross of the
     S.F. CHRONICLE.  The league could also put the entire deal
     "completely" on hold, "pending the outcome of DeBartolo's
     legal problems" in LA.  Matier & Ross: "Nevertheless,
     sources close to DeBartolo say that he and his lawyers will
     push for the league for quick approval ... possibly as early
     as May, when the league holds its next general meeting." 
     But the NFL "faces a dilemma" in that any further delays
     "could threaten" the team's $525M stadium/mall project, and
     the "image conscious league ... does not want to act hastily
     while DeBartolo is a target of a federal racketeering
     investigation."  League sources say a complete check of
     DeBartolo's bid could take anywhere from three to six months
     and then face a vote by ownership.  But sources close to
     DeBartolo said they think the deal does not require a vote  
     -- and that DeBartolo "may be prepared to go to court to
     challenge the league."  The league may also "hold" up any
     possible removal of team President Carmen Policy, as league
     rules mandate no management changes until a new ownership 
     deal is finalized and closed (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/2).
          POLICY BACKER: In S.F., Glenn Dickey writes that the
     league will not approve DeBartolo amid questions of a
     possible indictment, and he adds that an indictment "is
     virtually certain, probably in June."  Dickey also calls
     Policy's removal a "disastrous mistake," and says that
     DeBartolo's return as owner "would destroy what has become
     the NFL's bellwether franchise" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/2).

          Despite "not coming anywhere near their goal," Packers
     President Bob Harlan said the team was "not disappointed"
     with the $24M raised from the recently concluded stock sale,
     according to Brad Zimanek of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. 
     The Packers, who had hoped to raise $80M from the offering
     by selling 400,000 shares at $200 apiece, ended up selling
     more than 120,000 shares.  Harlan: "The goal was very
     difficult to determine.  We had not tried a stock sale for
     47 years and that sale in 1950 netted about $118,000.  We
     really did not know where this would take us."  More than
     half of the shares were sold in WI, but all 50 states were
     represented, as well as Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 
     With the stock sale, the Packers' "first priority ... is to
     add a rehabilitative swimming pool" to the team's training
     facility next to Lambeau Field (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/2).

          Predators Owner Craig Leipold said the team has sold
     over 500,000 game-day tickets for next season and that it
     would reach the luxury suite and club seat sale requirement,
     set by the NHL, by yesterday's midnight deadline, according
     to Jeff Legwold of the Nashville TENNESSEAN.  The Predator's
     had to sell 75% of the arena's club seats and luxury suites,
     and they sold 51 of the 66 single suites available and 1,379
     of the 1,839 club seats.  The team has also sold out all of
     the advertising space on the dasher boards around the rink. 
     Leipold added that the NHL had already completed 90% of its
     audit of the team's sales figures and other sponsorship
     deals last week (Jeff Legwold, Nashville TENNESSEAN, 4/1).