A federal appeals court panel "is expected to decide in
about three months whether" a judge was right to dismiss the
St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission's antitrust
suit against the NFL, according to Tim Bryant of the ST.
LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. The three-judge panel "heard arguments
for an hour on Wednesday." The $130M suit was dismissed by
U.S. District Judge Jean Hamilton in November, who called it
too "weak for a jury to decide" (POST-DISPATCH, 6/12).
BENSON & HEDGES: In SI, Peter King reports that Saints
Owner Tom Benson will pay "about" $7M for an Arena Football
team to begin play in New Orleans in '99 or 2000. Dallas,
Jacksonville, Kansas City, New England and Oakland "are some
of the other NFL clubs exploring the possibility of bringing
an" AFL team to their areas. King adds that the NFL and the
AFL are looking to develop a relationship "similar in some
ways to" the NBA/WNBA initiative to keep "basketball fans'
minds on the game during the NBA off-season" (SI, 6/15).
The AFL will be featured on "Dateline NBC" tonight (AFL).
HAD HIS PHIL: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick: "While its multi-
billion dollar take from its new TV deals represents an
unprecedented windfall, the NFL has cut back on medical
benefits for league employees" (N.Y. POST, 6/12).
