GE and Time Warner announced last night "that after
several months of intensive study, NBC and Turner
Broadcasting are moving forward toward the creation of a new
professional football league," according to CNN/SI's Bob
Lorenz on "Sports Tonight." Lorenz reported that NBC Sports
President Dick Ebersol and Turner Sports President Harvey
Schiller will "spearhead the effort. A complete
announcement is expected this fall." The NFL had no
comment. CNN/SI's Peter King, asked if the timing of the
announcement was good or bad for the NFL: "It's about the
worst time you could imagine ... because right now the NFL
and its television networks are out trying to sell ad time
to some of the biggest corporations in America. They've
already had a difficult time doing that to justify the
gigantic 100% increase in rights fees that the networks have
paid to the NFL. ... If this does come off, particularly if
it comes off in 1999, it's going to be a much cheaper avenue
-- certainly the football won't be nearly the quality of the
NFL -- but it's going to be a much cheaper avenue for some
advertisers who right now feel that they're getting squeezed
by the NFL" ("Sports Tonight," CNN, 5/27). NBC's Hannah
Storm also discussed the GE/Time Warner league during
halftime of the Pacers-Bulls game, calling it, "Major news
in the world of sports tonight" ("NBA on NBC," 5/27).
BUT CAN IT WORK? Asked if the GE/Time Warner league can
succeed, CNN/SI's King said the "big failing" of the USFL
was that "they attempted to try to beat the NFL. ... I think
that this new league would have to be very smart, and this
new league would have to have very controlled budgets. ...
They're going to have to get middle of the road players with
a couple of stars maybe per franchise to try to sell tickets
and then control the league so that the Donald Trumps of the
world don't get in here and try to make megalomaniac deals
out of it" ("Sports Tonight," CNN, 5/27).
FEW DETAILS: In DC, Leonard Shapiro adds that the new
league would play in the fall, "perhaps as early" as '99.
It would consist of 10 to 12 teams, all owned and operated
by GE and Time Warner and placed in markets where NBC has
O&O's or affils (WASHINGTON POST, 5/28). In N.Y., Richard
Sandomir reports that the announcement offered "few
details," including "whether the new league would compete
against the [NFL] in the fall, and what year it would start"
(N.Y. TIMES, 5/28). USA TODAY's Gary Graves said "potential
cities" include N.Y., L.A., Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia,
Birmingham, Salt Lake City and Orlando (USA TODAY, 5/28).
