The Historically Black Collegiate Coalition (HBCC), NBC
Sports, the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Mid-Eastern
Athletic Conference have agreed to a new, multi-year deal
where McDonald's Heritage Bowl will be televised live on NBC
starting this December. Sponsorship packages will be sold
by the HBCC, a division of Universal Sports America (USA)
and NBC Sports. NBC will handle int'l TV distribution and
produce the Bowl's Web presence on MSNBCSports (USA).
OTHER NOTES: Houstonian George Foreman's January '99
fight vs. Larry Holmes could take place at the Astrodome.
An Astrodome exec said "the deal was close but not yet
final" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/10)....Asked if the '99 Pilot
Pen Int'l will be played in New Haven, CT, in '99, PPI CEO
Mike Davies said, "At this point, it's still debatable. Our
investors are not too excited about pouring money into this
event without a return." Although the women's event "seems
secure," Davies said that the combined tournaments lost more
than $1M this year (HARTFORD COURANT, 9/9)....On-site
attendance for the 36-day meeting at Saratoga Springs
Raceway was 887,752, an average daily attendance of 24,660
-- up 7.4% from '97 (Albany TIMES-UNION, 9/8).
