NFL: The NFL set an all-time weekend paid attendance
record last week when 999,778 fans attended its 15 games.
The 15 games averaged 66,652. The previous weekend paid
attendance record was set on November 10-11 of last year
when 964,079 attended 15 games. Last week, 13 of 15 games
sold out in advance of the blackout deadline (NFL).
NOTES: The NLL granted a one-year suspension for the
Boston Blazers for the '98 season (NLL)....ABL attendance is
up 19% over its first 59 games in '96. The league is
averaging 4,227 fans, up from 3,560 last year. ABL CEO Gary
Cavalli said the ABL's goal of 5,000 per game is possible as
its new markets, Philadelphia and Long Beach, "show some
growth" (USA TODAY, 11/20). In Denver, Dylan Tomlinson
writes that as the ABL "begins its expansion, one can't help
but wonder if a Nashville franchise can't be too far off,
especially as the ABL and WNBA prepare for a bitter fight
over University of Tennessee superstar Chamique Holdsclaw"
(DENVER POST, 11/20)....In his ESPN SportsZone column, David
Aldridge writes that "one thing" the NBA could "ask for if
and when" the CBA is reopened is a "franchise" player
designation similar to that used in the NFL. That would
prevent a player from negotiating with any other club as
long as his original team offers him the average of the top
five paid players at his position. Aldridge: "That would be
an artificial cap on a team's top-salaried player, which is
something owners are desperate to get" (SportsZone, 11/20).
