FEELING A CHILL IN COLUMBUS: CHEN SELLS TEAM TO SMG

          ECHL Columbus Chill Owner Horn Chen has sold the team
     to SMG, subject to the approval of the ECHL Board of
     Governors.  The sale will be consummated at the end of this
     season, which will be the team's final one in Columbus.  The
     NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets are scheduled to begin play in
     2000 (SMG).  In Columbus, Craig Merz reports that SMG will
     assume control of the Chill in July '99, but that the team
     "likely will be suspended for the 1999-2000 season."  Merz
     adds that Atlantic City, NJ, "is the leading choice as a new
     home" for the franchise, as SMG applied for ECHL franchises
     in Atlantic City and Reading, PA, where arenas are "expected
     to be ready in two years."  Horn Chen paid $100,000 for the
     team in '91-92, and Merz reports that the Chill made money
     "every season" and the average yearly profit was $400,000
     for the first six years.  But a drop in attendance and
     sponsorship dollars led to the team making "only" a $100,000
     profit last year (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 9/25).