AIG has bought 21% of the marketing arm of Galatasaray,
Turkey's "most successful" soccer team, for $20M. The deal
makes Galatasaray the first Turkish team to sell shares to
investors. Proceeds from the sale will help the team
restructure $26M of debt (FINANCIAL TIMES, 9/21).
OTHER NOTES: The L.A. Superior Court has set March 7 as
the date for a jury trial to begin in the Raiders vs. the
NFL. The case involves Raiders claims for damages
concerning the L.A. market and the team's opportunity to
build a new stadium (USA TODAY, 9/21)....In Portland, Paul
Buker wrote that "there's no mistaking" the fan base for
hockey in OR after 8,124 attended a Wild-Sharks exhibition
at the Rose Garden (Portland OREGONIAN, 9/20)....The NFL
suspended Colts DB Mustafah Muhammad for two games for
abusing his pregnant wife in '99 and in Indianapolis,
Brunner & Penner write that local organizations working to
combat domestic abuse were "not satisfied," saying that the
suspension "wasn't strong enough" (INDY STAR, 9/21). ....In
Ft. Worth, Troy Phillips wrote that with an average adult
ticket price of $14, the MLS's Burn "is a fan bargain. " The
Burn is the only one of the five [local] teams not to raise
ticket prices" in the past five years. MLB Rangers
VP/Marketing Jeff Cogen, on the Burn: "I don't perceive them
as direct competition. You're comparing the experience of
the Cotton Bowl to the Ballpark in Arlington. By definition,
it's an apple and an orange" (STAR-TELEGRAM, 9/20).
