NFL: The Chargers increased ticket prices $4 for the
2000 season. The team's average ticket price next season
will be $43, with ticket prices ranging from $24 "in the
family zone" to $59 on the press level. The price hike is
the team's first since '97 (S.D. UNION TRIBUNE, 1/15)....In
Indianapolis, Mike Chappell writes that Colts officials were
"rankled" by the number of Titans fans who were "able to
obtain tickets" to Sunday's Titans-Colts game. Colts
season-ticket holders were allowed to purchase the same
number of tickets for the playoff game, then given another
opportunity to buy "up to four more tickets." The "belief"
is that many of those extra tickets "ended up in the hands"
of scalpers and brokers (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 1/18).
NBA: The Lakers' streak of consecutive road sellouts is
eight and the team is averaging 18,222 fans per road game --
making them the NBA's best road draw. The Celtics,
T'Wolves, Knicks, Suns and Blazers are averaging above
17,000, but below 18,000 (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 1/17).
...In Pittsburgh, Paul Zeise wrote that Miami-based
immigration attorney Michael Levine met with Pittsburgh area
business and civic leaders last month to "formally begin the
process" of acquiring an NBA team. Levine: "[Pittsburgh] is
the only market among the top 25 that does not have an NBA
franchise and it should have one" (POST-GAZETTE, 1/16).
MLB: The Expos unveiled the schedule for a "grand-scale
version" of their annual winter media tour that will feature
a total of 23 players, plus management and broadcasters,
rotating on a 13-day tour with stops in Quebec City,
Plattsburgh, NY, and Burlington, VT. New Expos Majority
Owner Jeffrey Loria "personally contacted players to request
their participation" (GAZETTE, 1/15)....The Orioles sold
57,000 tickets on Saturday, the first day individual game
tickets for next season were available. In Baltimore,
Jamison Hensley wrote, "Although the team has watched its
wins decline recently, it appears it has yet to lose one of
the strongest fan bases in the major leagues" (SUN, 1/16).
NOTES: In ID, Derek Samson reports that the CBA
Stampede are in the final year of a three-year lease with
the Idaho Center in Nampa and the team is "considering
moving" to the Bank of America Centre in Boise or The
Pavilion at Boise State Univ. A move to the Bank of America
Centre "could hand over" the Stampede's operations to
Diamond Sports, which is part-owner of the WCHL Steelheads,
the World TeamTennis Idaho Sneakers and the Bank of America
Centre. However, Samson writes that the CBA and Diamond
Sports are "tight-lipped about a management deal." CBA
Senior VP/Basketball Operations Brendan Suhr: "We are very
impressed with Diamond Sports because it has a ton of
experience in running teams. But it is very presumptuous to
say (it will happen)" (ID STATESMAN, 1/18)....NHL Blue
Jackets GM Doug MacLean, on the team's ticket sales for its
inaugural 2000 season: "To me, it's absolutely amazing that
nine months before the season starts, we're at 11,000
[tickets] sold" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 1/18).
