COST OF SPORTING EVENTS RULED OUT OF BOUNDS

          A joint poll conducted by the WALL STREET JOURNAL and
     NBC News shows that "half of Americans believe that going to
     sporting events is 'becoming too expensive to be worth it'
     for the average family."  Of 2,106 adults surveyed between
     December 3-6, 47% believe pro sports events have become too
     costly, 20% of respondents picked theme parks while movies
     (8%) and dining out (7%) followed.  Leslie Oliver, an
     associate of DC-based Peter Hart, who handled the telephone
     poll with Robert Teeter: "More [people] are saying the value
     of professional sporting events is just not worth the ticket
     price."  The survey found that men "feel more strongly about
     rising prices" than women, and "upper-income Americans" are
     more concerned than "middle-income or lower-income
     respondents" (Albert Hunt, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/10).