At its league meetings yesterday, the AFL formally
announced that its new franchise in Chicago will begin
playing in 2001. Meanwhile, AFL Commissioner David Baker
and Chair-elect of the Exec Committee of af2 Carl Scheer
announced that members that were about to form the Xtreme
Football League would become part of af2. The XFL includes
the following cities: Birmingham, AL; Greenville, SC;
Huntsville, AL; Jacksonville, FL; Norfolk, VA; Pensacola,
FL; Richmond, VA; Roanoke, VA and Tallahassee. FL. These
franchises are targeting a May 2000 start date. The
following six markets have been also accepted by the AFL
Board for the 2000 season: Ft. Myers, FL; Little Rock, AR;
Oklahoma City, OK; Quad Cities, IL-IA; Shreveport, LA and
Tulsa, OK. It is expected that the Shreveport and Tulsa
franchises will begin play in 2001 (AFL).
A TOUCH OF HOLLYWOOD FOR CHICAGO TEAM: DAILY VARIETY'S
Marc Graser writes that "one member of Team Ovitz finally
has a football team." L.A. business exec Peter Levin, "in
charge of" high technology and Internet investments for
Michael Ovitz, is part of the AFL's Chicago investment group
with his father Alan Levin, Chicago business exec Arthur
Price and Walter Payton (DAILY VARIETY, 7/30).
AF2: In Chicago, Rick Telander: "The AFL itself would
soon have -- grab your armrests -- a minor league of its
own. ... Can Arenafootball3 be far away? How soon Af4, the
Toddler Years?" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 7/30). Xtreme Football
League's Richmond Speed CEO Harry Feuerstein: "For us,
without question, it's the best of both worlds: playing
under the AFL banner while playing within the cost structure
that makes sense for the Richmond market" (RICHMOND TIMES-
DISPATCH, 7/30). In OK, Mac Bentley reports that the
Oklahoma City afl2 franchise "will be tied to the Oklahoma
City Blazers hockey team under the ownership of Brad Lund
and Horn Chen" (OKLAHOMAN, 7/30). The "still-unnamed"
Little Rock team will be owned by ECHL RiverBlades co-Owners
Dave and Tim Berryman (Arkansas DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, 7/30).
