NFL TEAM NOTES: In N.Y., WNBC-TV President Dennis
Swanson said the addition of coach Bill Parcells has helped
ad sales for Jets games rise at least 20% over last year.
Swanson also notes "big time interest" from advertisers for
a new pre-game show starring Parcells and Phil Simms at
11:30am ET on Sundays (N.Y. TIMES, 8/1)....In St. Paul,
Charley Walters writes that the Vikings-Rams game in
Minneapolis Saturday "could be the first of a half-dozen TV
blackouts this season" (St. Paul PIONEER PRESS, 8/10)....The
Oilers-Saints exhibition game Saturday at the Liberty Bowl
will be blacked out in Memphis, but will be seen in
Nashville as scheduled since it is outside of the 100-mile
area which NFL blackouts cover. However, the Oilers next
two preseason games at Nashville's Vanderbilt Stadium "might
not be seen live" in Nashville "if current ticket sales
continue" (NASHVILLE BANNER, 7/30). The Oilers' radio
network has more than 40 stations in six states -- TN, KY,
AL, AR, MS and MO (NASHVILLE BANNER, 7/29).
OTHER TEAM NOTES: The MLS Revolution have signed a deal
with WEEI-AM and WNFT-AM for carriage of eight regular
season games this year (Revolution)....Phillies over-the-air
carrier WPHL used the L-VIS virtual ad system from Princeton
Video Image for a Phillies-Padres game in San Diego on
Monday (PVI)....CABLE WORLD's Alan Breznick, noting that the
Tigers' TV deal with PASS expires in two years, writes that
"one well-placed source said Fox has already offered [Tigers
Owner Mike] Ilitch a $50-million signing bonus for the
teams' TV rights after he initially rejected a $25-million
offer." Breznick adds that Fox Sports Net Senior VP/Rights
Acquisitions/ Regional Network Ops Bob Thompson "denied the
bonus story, but was coy about whether Fox may already have
purchase the Tigers' rights" (CABLE WORLD, 7/28).
