xan

I forgot to mention that New Orleans was the recipient of a huge federal subsidy for social services due to our egregiously large welfare squatter system. Those money will definitely be going elsewhere, and probably to Baton Rouge with all those fun folk.

yasoon

Euph, not trying to be a dick, but the Saints do not get much media attention. Even the Katrina thing has just become something to mention during the 2 minute highlight package, not a feature the Saints thing. The love from that died about when the Giants got a bum on heroin to paint "Saints" in the endzone at the meadowlands.

In all seriousness....one of the things that tells me the writing may be on the wall IS the merch.

A few weeks ago, the NFL released some new hats/shirts. I think 24 teams were represented....the Saints weren't one of them.

There is a nice fan store by me up here in Alpharetta, GA. Loaded with cool stuff...shirts/jerseys/trashcans/mini helmets/huggers/hats. Over the past few years, they've always had a couple of Saints hats/ a Deuce jersey/ an AB jersey/ that Jim Everett throwback that nobody wants/ Saints shirts/ sweats/ etc. I was in there the other day and the ONLY thing in the entire store other than maybe a cofee mug, was a five dollar pennant. I would say the Saints merch in that store has been reduced SIGNIFICANTLY. I know its falcons country, but there is a very considerable change in the availability of Saints merch.

The whole America's team thing died FAST. I think the NFL has limited the availability of Saints stuff. Even recently, the NFL did a commercial of team vehicles. INDY had a blue firetruck...very nice. I told my wife as the cars were passing by that there would not be a Saints car. Well, there was....it was a dirty bronco with 'GEAUX SAINTS' written in 'WASH ME' fashion on the back window. Seriously, marketing messages subtley tell you alot. I think ours is pointing to a rebrand...LA EARTHQUAKES

WhoDat

The Saints aren't responsible for the amount of merchandise that is produced - you realize that, right? They can control merchandising only by limiting the use of their trademarks (mainly their name and logo). However, I believe that their licensing agreement with the NFL allows the NFL full access as well.

If there's less Saints gear this year its most likely for one of two reasons. 1) You Gotta Have Faith just doesn't seem right after the worst natural disaster destroyed the team's hometown and the owner is now trying to leave. 2) The league is funnelling marketing efforts to KATRINA relief, not the team.

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse


\"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"

Euphoria

the reason they aren't in sores is not because the NFL doesn't put them in stores... HELLO... its because the private owners of the stores don't buy them and stock them in the store... WHY... its because NO ONE IS THERE BUYING THEM!!! If you owned a resturant and no one was buying ham and eggs, you would eventually take it off the minute and sale pizza if thats what everyone wanted. Go to your local Hooters and watch what people are wearing... here in San Diego you'll see tons of chargers (expected), 3 Saints, 20 cowboys, 12 Redskins, 14 packers, 20 plus Steelers, 14 Patriots, 8 Jets, 10 Giants... Lets see what am I going to put on my shelves and sale, hmmm I wonder.

I saw saints in the media already today...

yasoon

You and your "Hello" crap. I can't have a civilized discussion when you are involved. Thanks for your ham and eggs analogy, gomer. I aced every economics class I ever took....I don't need you to give me supply and demand for dummies. I'll give you a damn spelling lesson on every post from here on out.

Did you read what I said? I have lived in Alpharetta Georgia for almost 4 years. Every single season, I have been able to go to this specific store and go through a nice selection of Saints stuff. The store has remained unchanged, with the same ownership and the same exact types of merch for all teams other than the saints. So, your retort is completely unnecessary. The amount of Saints merch in the Atlanta area this year is waaaay less than it has been in years past. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH? It appears, from my experience, that based on past years, the amount of Saints merch on the market is dead in the water.

Yes....I realize that. My point is that, most years there are merchandising efforts associated with kickoff. New shirts. New hats...etc. This year, the only thing available out of the gate was the faith shirt. And now the "be a saint" tshirt. Which seems Katrina related. There seems to be less Saints merch available in '05. Maybe I'm wrong....I'm just saying this based on my personal view of the world. I am just postulating that maybe there would be a scale down if the the back office meetings start leaning toward the phasing out of the New Orleans Saints

Suddenly, they are media darlings huh? That's hilarious.

Watch an SI commercial where they offer a fan sweatshirt. Watch a sunday ticket commercial. Show me a sportscenter that leads with the Saints. Show me any NFL marketing effort with any sort of Saints reference. Even before this year. I realize some of this is supply and demand....Steelers stuff, packers stuff, Vick stuff, Cowboys stuff....it's all everywhere because it sells. But, I thought the NFL might try to push Saints stuff a bit harder with the whole America's team thing. My point is that there was new merch put out a few weeks back...I went to nfl shop and the Saints were one of 6-8 teams that the new stuff was not released for. Does that come from being in a smaller market? Maybe....I don't know.

Halo

I don't want to get into the middle of this discussion, but to come back to the point, I don't think Baton Rouge will become the center of the state. I don't see it becoming a bustling hub and I see the government of this state hussling to put New Orleans back together right now. It's all the governor talks about because there's a windfall in the budget and they don't want to go bankrupt. I don't think they estimate Baton Rouge will fill the hole in the budget if New Orleans doesn't come back soon.

Let's face it, New Orleans is the cash cow. The money from travel and tourism paves the roads of this state, the state collects the money. It comes up with so much they are able to cut a check to Tom Benson for $15 at the end of the year. And don't tell me the money isn't there and they have to pool it from economic development - the economic development money came from the travel and tourism tax in New Orleans anyway. There are so many slush funds politicians have it stinks and they take from that very pot.

I'll ask this to everyone on this thread, when was the last time you've been to New Orleans? I was there yesterday and I'm going again tomorrow. I've spent several weekends there and to be honest, don't believe the hype. The place is coming back online faster than you think. The French Quarter is growing day by day and is practically back in business. Uptown is completely being renovated and all you hear are hammers and construction because most of Lakeview is moving there, they are gobbling up the neighborhoods. I've never seen so many State Police and patrols in the City in my entire life. The National Guard parked Hum-V's up and down St. Charles avenue last weekend.

If you don't drive out to New Orleans East it kinda looks the same. The trains are running in New Orleans and I think the estimates of how many people would stay in Baton Rouge at first were overestimated. I heard on WJBO in Baton Rouge last Thursday an LSU economist saying that over the next 5 years the results of Katrina on the Baton Rouge populated area would be between 17 and 20k new residents. The place is overloaded and people are heading back to Jefferson and Orleans fast.

All I see now are for sale signs and for lease signs. That's what I see.

Euphoria

I saw some figures of the population of New Orleans before Katrina and now and its not promising short term wise, I think and its only my opinion for NO to reach those levels again its going to take some time. I love to hear that the rebuilding and stuff going on that will only help the economy and when the economy is moving, so is jobs, and people will go where the work is.

mjf150

Personally, I would rather the Saints return to NO to help return the city to its former promenance. However, economically speaking I do not know if it will be feasible from a league standpoint. At the very least though, if the Saints indeed return permenantly to New Orleans, I believe changing the name to the "Louisiana Saints" would be a great move from a public relations standpoint. A portion of every dollar the people across this entire state earns goes toward the team, and I believe that people would be more willing to stand by the team if the name better represented those who help to fund it existence within the state. Thank you for your comments. It's nice to have a good discussion.

Euphoria

The team won't lose money for being in New Orleans, they just won't add to the great profits the NFL as a whole generates. It will be difficult to put butts in seats... filling the dome isn't going to be that easy... the sooner the damn team starts winning the easier it'll be though

WhoDat

I hate to tell you guys this, but no one wants to go to Louisiana. People do want to go to New Orleans. From a "marketing perspective" New Orleans is far better nation-wide. In the region - who cares? Anybody not going to go to the game or support the team b/c the name is New Orleans and not Louisiana can kiss my a$$. LOL