NFL: The AP's Skip Wollenberg reports that ABC "appears
to be getting record prices in excess of" $2M for 30-second
spots for its Super Bowl XXXIV telecast in January, which is
a 25% increase from last year. DeWitt Media's Bob Flood
said ABC "only has a handful of units left" (AP, 9/22)....In
Akron, Mary Ethridge reports that the "demand" for Browns
merchandise "has been so great that record numbers of
counterfeiters have been drawn" to Northeast OH. The team
now has "the biggest counterfeiting problem -- outside of
playoff scams -- of any" NFL team. The league recently
found counterfeiters selling shirts "with a picture of one
popular cartoon character urinating on another." NFLP
Associate Counsel David Proper: "That clearly wasn't
licensed by us" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 9/22).
NAMES & FACES: NASCAR team owner Felix Sabates said
that winning races "often and usually is secondary" in
importance for team sponsors. Sabates: "Like Coors.
Sterling Marlin does an incredible job of working with the
distributors and retailers. He goes out of his way to
present a positive image for Coors, and all that overcomes
his lack of winning" (USA TODAY, 9/22)....TIME lists John
Daly in its weekly "Losers" section: "Golfer falls off
wagon, refuses help, loses endorsements. Has Kevin Costner
movie all over it" (TIME, 9/27 issue)....Indians SS Omar
Vizquel unveiled his sports clothing line, called "The Omar
Vizquel Collection." The new fashions can be seen at
OmarVizquel.com (USA TODAY, 9/22).
