Suite Economics?
 

Benson's been complaining since the beginning of the season that only 107 of the 137 suites in the SuperDome have sold, leaving 30, probably less desirable viewing boxes available.

What are the economics of the Suite in the Dome? What amount is required upfront? How many tickets are the owner(s) forced to buy in a season? Is there a catering minimum? Taxes/security/cleanup?

I'm going to take a guess here:

$20K per remaining suite for the "timeshare" -- $600K
16 seats per game played in the dome
---times
10 Saints Games + 5 Tulane Games + 3 Bowl Games + 2 State Champs = 20 Games
---times
$100 per ticket--------------------------------------$960K
Catering (profit only) - $1K per game -- $30K
Other Expenses - $1K per game -- $30K

Net total -- $1,620K, assumed to be designated solely to Benson

Is it me, or is this a profoundly trivial number in the grand scheme of the Saints' viability in New Orleans? Don't get me wrong, but $1620 is a lot of money to me, (my net worth is just a bit smaller than half that). I'm going to go further in assuming assuming that the "sold out" concept currently includes those 480 seats, so Benson's already getting the $960K, so we're really talking only $660K. Is it really worth the hairpulling tableslamming neckvain bulging fingerpointing derision?

Is it me, or is this a smokescreen for his desire to leave no matter what?

You smoke alot of weed, don't you, xan.



8)

To answer your question: Yes it is a smokescreen. Even if all the suites were sold out he would be looking for any excuse to pull up and move. I.E. the state won't build him a new stadium or give him enough subsidies to stay. The public won't buy enough beer and hot dogs at the game to stay. He will find a way to leave because he is a greedy douche.
The crazy thing is that the T.V. money the Saints receive cover the players salaries. The ticket sales cover the costs associated with putting on the games plus the coaches and staffs salaries. Everything else goes including but not limited to, concession sales, merchandise sales, parking, training camp revenue, preseason games revenue and local deals with radio and TV stations, and state subsidies goes directly into Mr. Benson's pocket.
So the question becomes: How much is enough Mr. Benson? Don't you think at this phase in your old life you should be worried not as much about how fatly you can line your pockets but about what legacy you will leave behind on this earth and this city that has given you and your family so much? Or are you just a used car salesman at heart and looking to screw the city over to sell us the clear coat and extended warranty on the lemon you have given us for 40 years now?

Benson owns the suites?


8)

Why does everyone think Benson is supposed to be some kind of philanthropist? The Saints are a business! He complains because the big money seats in the Dome are still not filled. There are enough businesses and rich people in the area to easily have bought them up and be using them for a tax write off and he has every reason to complain. Look at LSU's Tiger Stadium. If you got on a waiting list for a suite right now your great grand children might have a shot at getting one. It should be like that in the SuperDome. Let's give Benson credit for staying in New Orleans as long has he has under adverse conditions and offer a little support.

I'm thinking many of you have the finances of the Superdome and the finances of Benson confused. Some revenue stated above has absolutely nothing to to with Benson or the Saints.
Wow.


8)

Well, that's why I'm asking the question. From what I've read, Benson gets all the revenues from the Suites, except for some small portion. The Dome makes its money on the Lease arrangements with the various local businesses which include the Saints and the concessions and parking that are not Saints related.

Damnable Hemp.

It'd be interesting to see exactly how the various pies are sliced, if you will. Are things like that public record?

Just for giggles and grins.



Take another bong hit. :D

Poydras,
I'm not giving Benson credit for anything. All credit goes to Paul Tagliabue and the NFL for MAKING Benson keep this team in New Orleans last year. If it wasn't for the former commisioner Benson would be doing the Alamo boogie this year and that is a fact. Fine he is a business man, but again I will ask how much is enough. It's the same question that the public routinely asks of record profit taking oil companies and pharmacutical companies. When do your profits start hurting the overall pocketbooks and psyche of your customer base? Benson may be the owner but The Saints are a civic property if I have ever seen one. This conversation is not happining with the Green Bay Packers ever. It would be unheard of to move that small market team that is owned by the city, but it is perfectly reasonable for our team to move because Mr. Benson isn't hitting his proft margin percentage? That's B.S.!
Also, your L.S.U. Tiger analogy hold no ground due to the fact that the Tigers have put a WINNING product on the field for the better part of their existence, whereas Mr. Benson has put a LOSING product on the field for the better part of his ownership tenure. Give us a Championship Mr. Benson or at least a few deep drives into the playoffs and see how many of those suites are still empty.

question here. did they ever finish the remolding them? big money for a shell 65% complete

Not to be mean but who really cares about the suites other then Benson. The Saints are 5-1 about to be 6-1. Life is too short for these worries. After everything we have been through, we need to focus on the good.

i was wondering because it is like selling a car without an engine and a discount.

From what I understand, the suites that have been sold have been renovated first. The rest are in proces and will be renovated afterwards. All the sold suites are to have been fully renovated by about the Cincinatti game-that's just what I've inferred from T-P reports.

stockman who determines how much is enough and what gives them the authority. it is now someones right to determine how much money we are allowed to earn in a lifetime. maybe you should try to worry about making money instead of trying to stop someone else. i don't know how much money you earn and i don't really care because it doesn't help or hurt me one way or the other.

Well I don't think that was his point. His point is that Tom Benson, for some reason, still seems hell bent on finding ways to get out of Louisiana. His latest "crying poor" ploy is this suite nonsense. And stockman is right. In the context of things the amount of money that Benson is haggling over is trivial. Is it his right as a businessman to do so? Absolutely, no one is denying that. But this suite issue wouldn't be an issue for a businessman that was dealing in good faith. He's trying to squeeze every last drop of blood out of this state, and for what? You have to figure he doesn't want to be here in the first place. It's not about the suite money. Nothing short of building a new stadium would satisfy him.

As far as the LSU analogy goes, all that expansion came while we were losing.

Oh, really? How many losing seasons/non bowl game seasons have the Tigers had in the past say 25 years?
How many losing non playoff years have the Saints had in the past 25 years?
There is no comparison to the product on the field between the two.
Benson is a slimy weasal who has fleeced the state and general public for 40 years by putting a losing product on the field and pocketing the money instead of going after big name talent on the player and coach side of things. Just because he stepped up this year does not make up for the fact that he is still dying to leave New Orleans if he doesn't get his new stadium.

wish I had the article were it showed the fans support vs. losses in the NFL. in that statistic base we were #1 in the NFL. no one can pull in the fans better than saints when they are stinking up the place and the laughing stock of the NFL.
I wish Benson and the nfl had to address that everytime relocation comes up.

That's apples and oranges. You don't measure college success just by winning seasons because there is no real parity. You measure success of a college program by how many time you go to a major bowl. At the time we built the skyboxes at Tiger Stadium, we hadn't won an SEC Championship in a long time. I think we were co-champs with Auburn one year but that was in the 80s. The last national championship was in the 50s. We went through a coach every 4 years. Still, with all that mediocrity, the skyboxes sold out very quickly.

stockman i don't think there is anything wrong with him wanting a new stadium. he wants that so they could actually grab another superbowl game. i am sure that is to his benny but that would also be a huge help to new orleans. the state should pony up. i don't want to hear about the hurricane as the reason they can't afford to give him that because he was asking for it long before the hurricane hit and he was being told no then. sounds to me like the state should decide how bad they want the saints. i am sorry i do not find it his obligation to let the state off the hook because they manage money badly. maybe they should cut spending in order to fund the stadium. if that is not the answer then you would have to raise revenue by increasing taxes. if that isn't the answer then unfortunately the city or state can not afford the saints and that has nothing to do with benson. why don't you go after the elected officials who have caused the problem.

Give me a break. So now it's the state's fault that Benson is a greedy S.O.B. Why is it that Lousiana is the ONLY state that has to subsidize it's football team? I'm not saying that the state isn't completely inept at managing money but they shouldn't have to pay to keep the team in state especially when the games are selling out every week. The state should be paying for better roads, schools, police, fire department, and helping to rebuild the city and get people and businesses back to New Orleans. They should not have to subsidize a man who has seen a $50 million dollar investment rise to a business worth a $1 Billion dollars if he were to sell to a group in say Los Angeles and who hasn't been losing money at all until last year. Greed is greed no matter how you slice it and the little man (the fans) are always the ones that get hurt in the end.