BASKETBALL: BUSINESS WEEK profiles the publicly-traded
USBL, which had a profit of $57,516, or $.02 per share, for
the '97 season. Shares currently trade between $2-3. While
USBL Commissioner Daniel Meisenheimer is "optimistic" about
the league's future, Laidlaw Asset Management analyst Peter
Russ said that the USBL "depends too much on selling
franchises for expansion" (BUSINESS WEEK, 7/27 issue).
AUTO RACING: In DE, Dover Downs Int'l Speedway (DDIS)
officials estimated Sunday's Pep Boys 400K IRL event drew a
crowd of 45,000 at the 107,000-seat facility. DDIS
President Denis McGlynn: "We'll do whatever it takes to keep
this event here and I'm sure the IRL folks will do the same"
(INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 7/20)....The Molson Indy in Toronto
drew a record crowd of 71,456 on Sunday, capping off a
record three-day total of 168,206 (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 7/20).
OTHER NOTES: USA TODAY's Mel Antonen writes MLB "has
reached a new marketing low with a sign on Fenway's Green
Monster advertising the 1999 All-Star Game. It looks awful"
(USA TODAY, 7/22)....ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY's Jim Mullen puts
"Baseball Fever" as No. 13 in his weekly "Hot Sheet."
Mullen: "Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Ken Griffey Jr. may
all break Roger Maris' 1961 record. For product
endorsements" (EW, 7/24 issue)....NFL officials Jerry
Markbreit, Don Hakes and Ed Fiffick will retire following
the '98 season (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/19)....The
Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH, "has lost
about 7,000 in-state visitors a year" since the Browns left
Cleveland in '95. But in Akron, Gregory Korte wrote that
the hall is "constantly reinventing itself to attract repeat
visitors, nonfans and tourists" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL,
7/19)....Ticket sales for MLS's All-Star Game next weekend
in Orlando are "approaching" 30,000. MLS VP/Marketing Paul
Phipps estimates that three-fourths of the interest is
coming from outside the Orlando area. MLS Commissioner Doug
Logan: "Anything over 30,000 would have been good. It looks
like we're going to wind up somewhere between 40,000 and
50,000" (Javier Solanl, ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/19).
