TICKET TALK: The price of season-ticket renewals for the Grizzlies increased by 5% for the 2000-01 season and by 9% for new season-ticket holders. All season-ticket holders will be able to participate in a ticket exchange program, under which they can trade unused tickets from a missed game for a pre-determined future game (Grizzlies). In Vancouver, Andrew Petrozzi wrote that new season-ticket prices for the upper bowl range from C$516-$1,870.50, up from a range of C$473-$1,716 last season, while lower bowl seat prices range from C$1,978-$3,289.50, up from C$1,815-$3,018. Club seats range from C$4,128-$4,558, up from C$3,787-4,182, and floor seats range from C$5,547-$12,212, up from C$5,089-$11,204. All prices include "an improved benefits package" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 8/13)....In N.Y., George Vecsey cited N.Y. Council speaker Peter Vallone as saying that the prices for sports tickets have risen "faster than any other form of entertainment in the past five years." The Knicks' highest ticket price, not including season-ticket plans, has risen from $45 to $220 since '95, which, when adjusted for inflation, "amounts to a leap of" 335.21%. Vallone, on the price increases: "A lot of these are corporate seats. You have a wealthy class of people who buy these tickets for business purposes. There's nothing left for the middle class" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/13). NOTES: In Boston, Bob Hohler writes that the Internet has "burped up another bizarre rumor," that WWF/XFL Chair Vince McMahon -- a CT native -- "yearns to buy" the Red Sox and "hopes to do so in the next decade" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/14)....In DC, Steve Wyche cited Wizards President of Basketball Operations Michael Jordan as saying that he "has been working nearly every day this summer to improve" the team. Jordan: "The unfair thing is to judge me over a six- month period. I don't have a problem with people judging me after the season. Whatever happens now is pre-judging what me and my staff are capable of doing with this team (WASHINGTON POST, 8/12)....In Chicago, Jeff Vorva wrote that for the 14th time in franchise history, the Cubs surpassed two million fans (DAILY SOUTHTOWN, 8/13)....The expansion UHL Lehigh Valley Xtreme will postpone its inaugural season until 2001-02 due to issues related to the construction of the Allentown (PA) Sports and Entertainment Center (UHL).
