HOW SPORTS HELP TO BLUR THE LINE BETWEEN MEDIA BEHEMOTHS

          The business relationships between today's top
     entertainment and media companies -- including Walt Disney,
     News Corp. and Time Warner -- are examined by Frank Rose of
     FORTUNE.  Disney Chair Michael Eisner, pointing to a photo
     of an African woman wearing a Mighty Ducks hat: "We made
     this hat, and a month later somebody came back from Timbuktu
     with this picture he took.  A woman, a native -- where she
     got that hat. ... Now that's the definition of global
     reach."  Eisner, on competing with News Corp. Chair Rupert
     Murdoch for sports properties: "We generally can't compete
     with Rupert on costs.  He's a much bigger gambler than we
     are -- and by the way, it's paid off for him.  I'm more of a
     sleep-at-night kind of executive."  Rose writes that it's a
     "good thing" these corporations are buying sports teams:
     "Athletics could serve as a healthy vent, maybe even keep
     them from going nuclear."  Eisner: "I hope the Angels end up
     in the National League -- then we'll kick Rupert's butt,
     right there in Chavez Ravine" (FORTUNE, 6/22 issue).