BRONCOS MOVE CLOSER TO BEING FREED FROM MILE HIGH LEASE

          Denver City Council, by a vote of 8-2, approved the
     city's deal to release the Broncos from their lease at Mile
     High Stadium "in return for the team playing at a new
     stadium for at least 25 years," according to Julia Martinez
     of the DENVER POST.  By law, the current lease, which runs
     through 2018, "has to be terminated" before the Metropolitan
     Football Stadium District can put the stadium issue on the
     November ballot.  The deal "must pass again on final
     reading" next Monday night.  Martinez writes that "there
     were indications" that a new lease deal between the city and
     Broncos "might be close."  A new lease must be completed by
     September 3 to get the stadium issue on the ballot (DENVER
     POST, 8/18).  In other news, the Broncos "are forming a
     sister firm" called Stadium Management Co. to operate the
     proposed new stadium, as the stadium board "may let" the
     team run the facility "and collect profits from non-football
     events" (Ann Imse, ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 8/18).