''Multimillionare'' fiasco delays daredevil's arch jump

RENO, Nev. - Plans for motorcycle daredevil Robbie Knievel to jump the downtown Reno arch apparently have been delayed by the fiasco that followed Fox television's ''Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionare?'' show.

Knievel spokesman Fred Bezark said on Monday that Fox has put all of its reality shows on hold so it can re-evaluate each one. That includes the scheduled May 25 stunt in Reno.

A condition of Knievel's jump is that it must air on TV. A prime-time showing on Fox was anticipated.

Reno casino and tourism officials see the event as a way to generate publicity for Reno and to bring large numbers of people downtown - presumably to gamble.

''Its not dead, its just postponed,'' said Steve Trounday, marketing director at Fitzgeralds Casino-Hotel. ''We will find a date. Robbie wants to jump the arch.''

Trounday hopes the jump still can occur this year. Most of the roughly $200,000 needed to produce the jump and cover Knievel's fee was raised from the casinos and Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority, so it is just a matter of getting TV and a date, he said.

''I want this jump to happen and were just going to keep plugging away at it,'' Trounday said.

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