SAN ANTONIO TALKS: San Antonio city, Bexar County and
Spurs officials will meet Friday to discuss how to work
together to "minimize losses" at the Alamodome. Former
Mayor Nelson Wolff: "One possible way is to put together
joint marketing efforts where they (the Spurs) wouldn't try
to pull everything out there to the arena and coliseum"
(EXPRESS-NEWS, 8/19). Also in San Antonio, Carlos Guerra
wonders why the county's deal with the team has not been
made public: "It's one thing to refuse public negotiations.
It is quite another to guard critical financial details as
if they were state secrets" (S.A. EXPRESS-NEWS, 8/19).
BROWNS OPENING: An estimated 25,000 fans attended an
open house at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Tuesday. The new
Dawg Pound "is identified with two NFL Properties-designed
logos -- as if anyone on this planet couldn't locate the
Dawg Pound" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 8/18). Andrea Simakis
wrote that after viewing the facility, "most say there is
not a bad seat in the house" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 8/18).
NOTES: The Univ. of MD and the Ravens could not reach a
deal that would allow the school to play a home football
game at PSINet Stadium. The team played GA Tech last year,
but the Ravens' "enthusiasm dimmed" after "only" 25,183
attended the game, resulting in an estimated $600,000 loss
for the team. It is "thought" that the school received a
guarantee of $800,000 for the game (SUN, 8/19)....The NHL
Hurricanes invited 2,000 guests to tour the under-
construction Raleigh Arena. Visitor Al Hardie: "I'm just
surprised by how much work they still have to do here. ...
It looks like they've got a long way to go." But Arena
Operations Dir Davin Olson said, "The arena absolutely will
be ready for the Hurricanes' first game Oct. 29" (N&O,
8/19)....The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission has
received 36 sales-tax rebate checks totaling $3,705.11 in
contributions to a special stadium fund (STAR TRIBUNE,
8/19). The Vikings official Web site (www.vikings.com) does
not officially launch until September 13. But an updated
section under the "latest Vikings news" is called "Stadium
Chalk Talk," which outlines the team's case for a new
stadium (THE DAILY)....In Hartford, Greg Garber examines the
$21M CT Tennis Center in New Haven, which will not host an
ATP Tour event for the first time since it opened in '91.
Former Pilot Pen Tournament Dir Jim Westhall: "We didn't put
people in the seats. I'm not so sure in retrospect the
market could support it. Well, frankly, it didn't support
it." New Haven Mayor John DeStefano: "Westhall didn't crack
the market. It's sad, because the building does what it's
supposed to very well. It hosts tennis events" (HARTFORD
COURANT, 8/19).
