A fight last Saturday during a Tigers-White Sox game
may have been the "mayhem to fuel fan interest" that the
White Sox need to "revive the franchise on the field and in
the stands," according to Toni Ginnetti of the CHICAGO SUN-
TIMES. White Sox Senior VP/Marketing & Broadcasting Rob
Gallas said, "I'm not endorsing this, but people have said,
'That fight was great! I'm buying tickets!' It's focused
the spotlight on the Sox. ... Monday was one of the bigger
phone days we've had in a while, but during the winter, we
already had sold twice as many new season tickets as we had
at the lowest period [two years ago], and we had more
renewals. And we exceeded our sponsorship quota." The team
sold 6,000 tickets at the gate Monday night, "considered a
strong walk-up figure," and had a crowd of 15,461. Ginnetti
notes that new sponsors for the team include Old Navy and
T.D. Waterhouse, which has a large sign in left-field
concourse that includes a "video display that will show a
stock ticker between innings and pitch speeds during
innings." The newest sponsor, Yahoo!, debuted Tuesday with
a sign on the left-field wall (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/26).
DILLER'S DOLLARS: Also in Chicago, Jim Kirk cites
sources as saying that USA Networks CEO Barry Diller's WEHS-
TV in Chicago "has had discussions in recent weeks" with
White Sox & Bulls Chair Jerry Reinsdorf and Tribune Co.
execs "about broadcasting a slate of" Bulls, White Sox and
Cubs games beginning next season (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/27).
