[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Friday, December 6, 1996

Cowboys' Sanders Apparently Stops Payment on Fanfest Checks

By the Associated Press (Dec. 6, 1996)

DALLAS (AP) - Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders, billed as host of a flopped sports fair that left some fans and exhibitors hopping mad, apparently has stopped payment on $66,000 in checks to four vendors that helped put on the event, including the city of Dallas.

Sanders' business manager, Craig S. Brooks, said the checks for the three-day event last week were stopped because they were not supposed to have been cashed. He said Sanders and the event promoters had an oral agreement that the checks would be returned to Sanders after the expenses were paid from ticket sales and booth rentals.

"Those checks were supposed to secure the building - that was it," Brooks said. "Deion did not take on the role of promoter."

Brooks received a notice Thursday that the city of Dallas, landlord of the Dallas Convention Center, where the event was held, intends to collect on a $22,700 rental check.

"My primary concern is that the city is paid," said City Attorney Sam Lindsay. "If we have to sue somebody - if we have to sue everybody - to get our money, that's what we'll do."

The stopped payments, all dated Nov. 27, the day the event opened, included a $28,650 check for furnishing and set-up services, a $14,000 check for security guards and a $1,200 check for paramedic services.

The sports fair, billed as "The World's Largest Players and Fans Party" was supposed to feature scores of athletes, including Cowboys Emmitt Smith, Leon Lett, Nate Newton and Kelvin Martin.

But on the opening day, Sanders was the only athlete who showed up. He stayed only 15 minutes, leaving hundreds of fans waiting for his autograph.

Sanders returned Saturday and was one of only a few celebrities on hand for the fair's second day. Fans who had paid a $12.50 admission fee were fuming.

Event promoter Michael Jacobson had said two dozen athletes were supposed to appear at the event free of charge. Partial proceeds from the weekend were to benefit local charities.

The city and other recipients said they have not officially been notified that the checks were stopped. But the convention center was told the check had been stopped when it called Lincoln National Bank in Fort Wayne, Ind., said Oscar McGaskey, convention center general manager.

Convention center officials said the checks were written on the account of Prime Time Enterprises Inc., an Indiana company incorporated by Sanders.

"If we receive official notice that the check was stopped, and they don't make it good, we'll file a theft-of-services case with the district attorney's office," said Joe Huffman, president of the paramedic services vendor, Event Medical.