MLB Commissioner Bud Selig addressed the Expos' future
in Montreal: "The Montreal situation is one I'm monitoring
now almost on a daily basis. They appear to be somewhat
optimistic that they're making progress, but I would say
it's really in the same posture that it was two or three
months ago. There is nothing new to report on either the
ownership or the stadium" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/13). Selig
said the team's precarious situation has "clearly affected"
its attendance. Selig: "I don't think this year's attendance
is really a crucial factor one way or another" (AP, 7/13).
SEATTLE'S SLEW: In Seattle, Ellis Conklin reported on
the Mariners opening their new 10,000-square-foot flagship
retail store at Safeco Field. The store brought in $55,000
the day it opened last week. But only the team can "sell
Safeco-stamped goods" and have exclusive rights to those
marks, "much to the chagrin" of local vendors. Sports
Warehouse Proprietor Lonnie Smith: "I'm fine with them
selling their own merchandise as long as they pay the $100
million in cost overruns." MLBP VP/Licensing Howard Smith
said the team wants "to distinguish themselves from the
other outlets and this offers them the ability to control
quality and distribution" (SEATTLE P-I, 7/12).
AROUND THE HORN: In Minneapolis, Sid Hartman wrote that
Twins ticket revenue for the first three months of the '99
season is down from around $6.2M in '98 to roughly $4.2M
this year. One reason for the decline is that the average
price of the tickets sold this season is $7.64, compared
with $9.76 for the same period last season. The team's
share of concessions has also decreased by $280,842
(Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/11)....Newly hired Telemundo
CEO Roland Hernandez issued a letter of apology to Astros
Owner Drayton McLane for statements made by Telemundo's
KTMD-Houston Manager Marco Camacho that alleged McLane made
racially insensitive comments. Hernandez said that he
"believes that Camacho misunderstood McLane's comments." In
Houston, John Williams notes that Hernandez is on the Board
of Dirs at Wal Mart and that McLane is "one" of the
company's "biggest stockholders" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/13).
