NAMES IN THE NEWS

Panthers Owner JERRY RICHARDSON has officially stepped down as Chair of Flagstar Companies, operator of Denny''s restaurants, in order to spend more time on his football team (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 5/

Tags: Boston Red Sox, CBS, ESPN, MLB, NBC, NFL, NHL, Orlando Magic, PGA Tour, RDV Sports, People and Pop Culture, Toronto Blue Jays, Viacom, Walt Disney

THE SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY "PURE PLAY" STOCK TICKER

52-WEEK COMPANY SYM CLOSE +/- OPEN HIGH LOW VOLUME Bos. Celtics BOS 21 0 20 7/8 24 1/8 19 1/2 1100 Cobra Golf CBRA 21 -3/8 21 41 1/2 14 308300 Converse CVE 8 3/8 -1/2 8 5/8 12 5/8 7 3/4 19500 Callaway

Tags: Boston Celtics, Callaway Golf, Converse, Fila USA, Fortune Brands/Acushnet, Nike, Reebok, The Back of the Book

MEDIA NOTES

Viacom announced a profit for the 1st quarter in large part due to the acquisitions of Paramount Communications and Blockbuster Entertainment. Viacom reported revenue of $2.7B and net earnings of $71M

Tags: Cablevision, ESPN, NASCAR, NBA, New York Knicks, NHL, Nike, Media, Time Warner, Viacom, Walt Disney

WAS IT FAREWELL OR AU REVOIR FOR WINNIPEG FANS LAST NIGHT?

The Jets may have played their last game in Winnipeg last night, a 2-1 loss to the L.A. Kings. According to sources cited in this morning''s WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, the team could be headed to Minnesota

Tags: Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, ESPN, Franchises, New York Jets, New York Yankees, NHL, Time Warner, Walt Disney, YankeeNets

VOLS WOMEN'S HOOPS COACH TO BE SCHOOL'S HIGHEST PAID

The Univ. of Tennessee has extended the contract of Women''s Basketball Coach Pat Summitt through 2001, raising her base salary to $125,000, higher than both Men''s Football Coach Phillip Fulmer and M

Tags: Colleges

RYKA'S POE SAYS COMPANY GETTING "A LOT OF CALLS"

Ryka Inc. CEO Sheri Poe is "scrambling to find investors who can save it from possible bankruptcy" after L.A. Gear withdrew from a $164.M acquisition deal last week. Poe: "We are getting a lot of call

PEPSICO REPORTS FIRST QUARTER NET EARNINGS OF 28%

Despite "a continuing struggle" in their restaurant businesses, PepsiCo reported "strong" first quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street estimates and led to the company''s highest stock price in mo

Tags: PepsiCo, Washington Nationals

MARKETPLACE ROUND-UP

The Raptors announced their first charitable grant of $750,000 over the next five years to help children with bleeding disorders. The money will be provided by corporate sponsor, Bayer Inc., and will

Tags: Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Toronto Raptors

IRON MAN RIPKEN GAINING NATIONAL EXPOSURE WITH FRANKLIN ADS

Ads for Franklin Sports featuring Cal Ripken and Barry Bonds, which began running recently on ESPN, are giving Ripken "some rare national commercial exposure as he begins his drive" to break Lou Gehri

Tags: ESPN, Walt Disney

TAMPA BAY OFFICIALS STILL "FAR APART" ON MONEY FOR DOME

Officials from Pinellas County and St. Petersburg are still "far apart" on how to come up with $20M of the $50M needed to renovate the ThunderDome. County commissioners, who are facing a Tuesday deadl

Tags: Facilities, Tampa Bay Buccaneers