BRIEFLY : NFL FRANCHISE FEE COULD BE $1 BILLION.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

The cost of resurrecting the Cleveland Browns could reach a record $1 billion, some NFL owners agreed, after the league passed a resolution Tuesday in Coral Gables, Fla., to determine the franchise's owner through a managed-bid process.

``We're talking about a team that, because of circumstances, should be the top revenue team in the league,'' Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. ``Over these next 10 years, just counting the revenues we share in the NFL, they'll get $900 million. So you figure out what the franchise fee should be.''

In a recent letter to the membership, Tampa Bay owner Malcolm Glazer, a member of the league's finance committee, suggested that a $1 billion fee should be considered.

Author Tom Clancy is withdrawing his bid to buy the Minnesota Vikings, according to a newspaper report. But Clancy's main adviser in the purchase disputed the report.

A source close to Clancy told the Saint Paul Pioneer Press that Clancy plans to advise the NFL of his decision today in a letter to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

Clancy's adviser, Marc Ganis, disputed the story Tuesday night.

``As far as I know, it's not true,'' Ganis told The Associated Press.

The bid was already in jeopardy when Clancy and Ganis skipped a meeting with the NFL's finance committee Monday night in Coral Gables, Fla. They had been scheduled to present their plan to buy the Vikings to the nine-member committee, a crucial step in gaining league acceptance.

The NFL will kick in another $15 million to the new football stadium being built for the next Cleveland Browns team, Mayor Michael R. White said.

The money should be sufficient to cover the cost overruns already incurred on the stadium, White said. The projected $247 million stadium is running about $13 million over budget. The league so far has contributed $45 million.

The NFL agreed to sell rights to its site on the World Wide Web to ESPN SportsZone for at least $10 million, people familiar with the negotiations told Bloomberg News.

University of Mississippi offensive tackle Joey Embry, 21, drowned in a pond on a golf course, apparently after suffering a diabetic-related seizure, said the Oktibbeha County (Miss.) coroner. Drugs and alcohol were not suspected to be a factor, he said.

BOXING: Fighter Philip Brown is suing Larry Holmes for more than $1.5 million, saying Holmes cost him his eyesight while they sparred in 1995. Brown accuses Holmes of punching him with his thumb improperly extended, poking him in the eye and detaching his retina. Then, the federal suit maintains, Holmes reneged on a promise to pay for surgery.

ALSO: Inside player Tina Thompson injured her right knee during an exhibition game with China last month and is being replaced on the U.S. women's basketball team for the World Championships by Taj McWilliams, U.S. coach Nell Fortner said. . . . Sergi Bruguera, struggling to find the game which helped him win last year's French Open final, lost to France's Fabrice Santoro 6-2, 1-6, 6-0, at the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf, Germany.