Please Help Me With the New Orleans Saints (1 Viewer)

[Jay Foster]

I mostly lurk on this site and do not post much. I need your help.

I am the co-founder of the SOS Committee (Save Our Saints) which was started to keep the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans as the city of San Antonio is trying to loot them from us. Despite what you may have heard, all of New Orleans is not destroyed. Many of the businesses have moved to just within a few hours driving distance and others are already open. What we need is fans of other teams calling, faxing, and emailing their team to let their owner know that the Saints should not move.

Here are the facts to support your phone call or email or fax or letter:

Our average fan attendance is higher than almost any team in the league and we have won only 1 playoff game (per study done by Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune Newspaper). Yet, we have had 38 straight sell outs.

I have personally spoken with Tim Coulon who assures me that the Super Dome will be completely remodeled or even razed if the situation warrants it. Moreover, there is nothing wrong with the practice facility in Metairie, Louisiana, so there is no reason that the Saints cannot practice there and the owner pays only $1.00 dollar a year to use the facility.

In San Antonio, they have volleyball tournaments and other activities which completely interrupts team practice. In fact, according to the Sporting News, in San Antonio, the Saints have,

“Roving practice facilities. The Saints practice at the Alamodome twice a week and at a local high school once. But the Special Olympics and the ROTC have bumped them from practice, and they'll be forced out of the Alamodome for much of December because of a home show, the NCAA women's volleyball championships and other events. They don't know where their offices will be then.”

In Tiger Stadium at LSU, we have more suites, more seats, and more fans than all of San Antonio combined. So we want and need your owner's vote against any move.

 

[george kaplan]

I think it's a joke that San Antonio is going to get the Saints. The sports fans here are hypocrites of the highest degree. They claim that if some 'disaster' were to befall San Antonio, and the Spurs were temporarily forced elsewhere, and that city tried to keep the Spurs permanently, they'd understand. Bullshit.

From what I hear, though, it appears that Tom Benson has made up his mind, at least as far as leaving New Orleans, going so far as to fire high ranking members of his staff who argued in favor of staying.

So, while I wish you good luck, I doubt if anything you can do will keep the Saints in New Orleans. As a rule, the owners aren't going to block each other from moving (they never have) and it's doubtful if any of them are opposed to it except for the owners of the Cowboys and Texans.

As for San Antonio, I like this town, and it's a nice place to live, but for this town to get an NFL team, while L.A. still doesn't have one is a pathetic joke.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The rumor is that San Antonio may only be a one year stop for the Saints on their way to Los Angeles. It's no secret that the NFL wants a franchise in LA, and the league does not want to expand again. The Saints were the most likely candidate to move there even before Katrina hit New Orleans. The damage to the Superdome and the city is just a convenient excuse to do what was going to happen anyway.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

There should only be one pro football team allowed per state. Texas is already over their limit.

 

[BrettB]

It's supply and demand. LA never supported a team. Texas is a pretty big place. To say they should only have one team ignores market forces.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I think it stinks that the NFL is going to allow the Saints to abandon New Orleans. If it happens then the Saints name along with all team records needs to stay in New Orleans for any future football franchise in that city.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

> If it happens then the Saints name along with all team records needs to stay in New Orleans for any future football franchise in that city.

New Orleans has suffered enough. Why force them to keep the Saints team records (which aren't too good)?

 

[todbnla]

The mayor of New Orleans wants to keep the logo and the name, which is really all we need. IMHO, I say let them (the current team) and their sorry ass car dealing owner GO! Tom has no interest in winning a super bowl only selling tickets for the bottom line.

Jay,
I feel your pain and your cause is noble, but a lot of local people like myself are tired on Tom and his crap.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If/when the current Saints leave, the chances of New Orleans getting another NFL franchise are almost nil.

 

[george kaplan]

That's bullshit. Georgia took the team out of town for reasons that had nothing to do with a lack of fan support.

 

[BrettB]

I guess it's just an urban legend. Bullshit article I found

 

[Robert Crawford]

Why?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

New Orleans has always been treated like a fringe market by the NFL. Also, the lack of large local business interests makes it unlikely that a local ownership group could be found for another franchise. Finally, the league owners have no desire to expand beyond the current 32 teams -- they like the balanced division setup, do not want to go back to an odd number of teams, and finding another viable U.S. market along with NO to add two franchises is unlikely.

Since the league does not want to expand beyond 32 teams, yet wants to place a team in L.A., that leaves relocating an existing franchise. With the Saints' current issues, they become the perfect candidate to move into the #2 television market.

 

[Mort Corey]

Hmmmm, if the Saints are coming to LA I guess I better start saving my grocery bags

Mort

 

[Malcolm R]

Sounds like this was probably in the works prior to the hurricane. The storm just becomes a convenient excuse.

 

[george kaplan]

First of all that's not an article, it's an op/ed piece. Secondly, it was written years ago for a financial column by someone who doesn't know jack shit about football fans in L.A. Bullshit article indeed!

 

[Arthur S]

Professional sports is part of the entertainment industry. This is what they call a business decision. How many teams have moved in the past 5 years? The sky did not fall.

Donald Trump

 

[Brook K]

Yes, Benson's been rumbling about leaving for several years after he couldn't get the new stadium he wanted.

IIRC the only reason he hasn't tried to leave already were the restrictive Superdome lease provsions.

I don't think anyone is questioning the fan support. Fan support isn't the issue in the NFL anymore. Only the very worst franchises have poor fan support. It's corporate dollars and a sweet heart stadium deal that owners are after because that is money that goes directly into their pocket and doesn't have to be shared with the other owners.

 

[Robert Crawford]

However, an existing team might move to New Orleans. I've heard that Jacksonville doesn't sell out nor do they have a lot of business support.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

At least if the "Saints" moved to San Antonio or Los Angeles, the team name would make sense: they would be moving to Saint Anthony or to The Angels.

It always got me about the "LA Lakers" when LA is in a parched desert.