TWINS: In Minneapolis, representatives of the Twins and
the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission (MSFC)
negotiated for three hours Monday. No deal was announced,
but the Twins "appear close to accepting" the MSFC's offer
to stay at the Metrodome for at least two more years and
receive about $1M in admission-tax rebates in exchange for
the MSFC's dropping its lawsuit against the team. The sides
plan to meet again tomorrow (John Millea, Minneapolis STAR
TRIBUNE, 7/21). In Charlotte, columnist Ron Green writes,
"The Twins are not going to move here. It is not going to
happen. Never was" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/21).
NOTES: More than 10,000 attended the Dolphins' first
Fan-Fest Saturday in Ft. Lauderdale (MIAMI HERALD, 7/21).
...Since Red McCombs agreed to buy the Vikings two weeks
ago, his TX office "has received about 300 job applications
for the team" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 7/21).....Packers
coach Mike Holmgren canceled DE Reggie White's group
interview session Monday. Holmgren: "Put them in a
situation where they have a microphone in front of them and
anything could be said. I would just like to minimize the
distractions just a little bit" (AP/PIONEER PRESS, 7/21).
...In Columbus, the ECHL Chill are back on the market after
investors from Youngstown opted not to maintain exclusive
negotiations. The original asking price for the team was
$1.5M, but in the last month, the ECHL raised its expansion
fee by $500,000 to $2M and capped the league at 32 teams
(COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 7/18)....In N.Y., Philip Lentz reports
that the Yankees' revenues could surpass $160M this season
-- "a record," and $30M above estimates for the '96 World
Series championship year (CRAIN'S N.Y. BUSINESS, 7/20).
