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BETTMAN SUPPORTS MCCONNELL GROUP IN BLUE JACKETS JURY TRIAL

          NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told jurors yesterday in
     Columbus, OH, that prospective NHL expansion team owner
     Lamar Hunt was not interested in pursuing a team for the
     area if voters did not pass a sales-tax increase for an
     arena in May of '97, according to Bruce Cadwallader of the
     COLUMBUS DISPATCH.  But Bettman said that local business
     exec John McConnell and others were intent on going forward. 
     Bettman said that "he knew from that point that Hunt's
     interest in a Columbus franchise was in doubt."  Bettman
     testified in a contract dispute between Hunt and local
     investors in the Blue Jackets.  After the referendum failed,
     Bettman said it was McConnell and Nationwide Mutual
     Insurance Co. that stepped forward on a plan for a new
     arena.  Under cross-examination by one of Hunt's attorneys,
     Bettman said that Hunt's status with the team was "unclear"
     after the May election.  Bettman: "[A]s a factual matter,
     based on what I know, I don't believe that there should be a
     claim for breach of duty by Mr. McConnell because, to us, it
     seemed like he was stepping up to do the right thing." 
     Cadwallader writes that local investors are "seeking a
     declaration from the jury that they did nothing wrong in
     obtaining the franchise."  Hunt's attorneys claim that local
     owners "breached their contract with him by obtaining the
     franchise without him (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 5/13).

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