saintz08

Why can't it ever be easy to be a Saints fan?
Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com

May 24, 2004

THEIR FANS spend the off-season discussing negotiations, incentives, contract details and stalemated talks with the star player, who they hope will play.

OUR fans spend the off-season discussing negotiations, incentives, contract details and stalemated talks with the team, who they hope will stay.

And so it goes.

I never thought former Gov. Mike Foster knew all that much about business. But if his replacement blows this deal with the New Orleans Saints, I'll be convinced she knows nothing about it at all.

But, wait. This is football, right? Leather helmets and muddy shoes - not long-term liquidity and market-share macros.

Actually, it's both.

An economic impact study by Timothy Ryan of the University of New Orleans shows that the Saints will generate $482.26 million in total economic impact for the state in 2004 - in addition to $22.84 million in state taxes.

That's a lot of Dome Foam.

In return the state is obligated to pay $15 million to the team - part of an incentive program agreed to by the state in 2002 to keep the Saints in New Orleans.

Louisiana shouldn't make good on that agreement in the hopes of hanging a championship banner in the Superdome. It should do so because it makes good sense.

Ryan's study was actually larger in scope. In seeking to define the economic impact of the Saints from 2002 through 2026, he put the team's 25-year contribution to state coffers at a stunning $12.2 billion dollars.

Keep in mind that the study did not include the additional benefits of hosting future Super Bowls - something New Orleans could not do, were it to lose the Saints.

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THEIR fans spend the off-season searching for new jerseys with the name of their top draft pick.

OUR fans spend the off-season searching from here to New Jersey for cities that might be tempted to poach the team.

A common point of interest is Los Angeles, the nation's second largest media market - but one without a pro football team.

"There have been two NFL teams there - and both left. That speaks volumes. There were a lot of empty seats," said Marc Taylor, a Saints fan from Farmerville who laments that he has to "worry every few years that events out of the fans' control could result in us losing our team. There are no more loyal and supportive fans anywhere than in the New Orleans area. Some are even six hours north of there."

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THEIR fans spend the off-season reviewing last year's game tapes - leaving no play unexamined, no pickoff uncelebrated.

OUR fans spend the off-season reviewing last year's agreement with the state, deciding how long this silly gamesmanship can play out before the team could legally pick up and leave.

The answer is: Sept. 18. That's the end of a 75-day grace period which follows the July 5 payment deadline.

The state has said it can't meet the incentive plan because the money was supposed to come from tourism, which has tailed off in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The same thing happened last year.

Think tourism is off in New Orleans now? Eliminate 10 Sunday afternoons a year where 70,000 people are in town for a game.

If Benson decides not to let the state out of its obligation - and that's certainly his right - Louisiana ought to pay up. West Monroe state Rep. Mike Walsworth said it best to me earlier this week: "A deal is a deal."

We should worry less about what it might cost to keep a high-profile corporation like the Saints than how expensive mediocrity really is.

Louisiana could lose the team then the visitors and prestige that it brings - a public humiliation, to be sure - but also a stable tax base from the entire payroll of the Saints, its administration and employees.

That exodus will hurt people who never saw the inside of a luxury box - unless it was to empty the ashtray.

In turn, these out-of-work people from restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, hotels and cab companies won't be finding new jobs. A state that continually deals in bad faith with a major business isn't likely to be attracting any new ones.

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THEIR fans spend the off-season with barely contained enthusiasm for the coming training camps - which means the regular season is just around the corner.

OUR fans spend the off-season with barely contained dread for the coming legislative session - which means another round of showboating from people who claim There Are More Important Things To Spend Our Money On Than Football - even while introducing bills to ban the low-riding pant.

How is it possible for the state of Louisiana to find itself unable to meet the budget - even while revenue surges because of increased gas prices and the Stelly Plan? One estimate had spiking oil costs sending an additional $108-$160 million into the general fund.

Nonsense like that is why I take I-55 to get down to New Orleans from here. Why risk getting lost in the rat-maze inconsistency of Baton Rouge?

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THEIR fans spend the off-season deciding if the team can keep its massive free agent.

OUR fans spend the off-season mass e-mailing elected officials in an attempt to convince the Good Representative from Nowhereville to keep the team.

There is $15 million dollars to be found in this waste-bloated budget to keep the Saints in Louisiana.

For instance, why don't we dip into the legislative slush funds - which account for about $20 million in the state's $17 billion budget?

Would the answer be different if the business in question was called Avondale or Entergy instead?

Mine wouldn't be.