An unfulfilled rumor:

mutineer10 · 11-11-2004, 07:34 PM

Forget Benson for a moment, and look at the city\'s interest in the Saints. It\'s no secret that a monumental amount of New Orleans\' capital comes from tourism, and the Saints are just one more excuse to take off to New Orleans for the weekend. For example, do you think many NFL fans say to themselves: \"Hey, my team is playing in Carolina this weekend, I think I\'ll take a little road trip and check out the nightlife.\" ??? Nope. But \"my team is playing in New Orleans this weekend\" might just be a good excuse to pack up and enjoy Bourbon St. for a night or two, and then catch the noon game before heading home.

Living in Birmingham, I\'m speaking from experience here. Hotel prices in the Quarter skyrocket when the Saints are playing at home, but folks (including me) don\'t seem to have a problem paying up to enjoy a fun-filled weekend plus a game on Sunday. It\'d hurt the city significantly to lose the business (and income) the Saints bring, so don\'t you think they might step up if serious talk of moving the team was going on?

11-11-2004, 07:34 PM	#17
mutineer10 Site Donor Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Posts: 1,739	An unfulfilled rumor: Forget Benson for a moment, and look at the city\'s interest in the Saints. It\'s no secret that a monumental amount of New Orleans\' capital comes from tourism, and the Saints are just one more excuse to take off to New Orleans for the weekend. For example, do you think many NFL fans say to themselves: \"Hey, my team is playing in Carolina this weekend, I think I\'ll take a little road trip and check out the nightlife.\" ??? Nope. But \"my team is playing in New Orleans this weekend\" might just be a good excuse to pack up and enjoy Bourbon St. for a night or two, and then catch the noon game before heading home. Living in Birmingham, I\'m speaking from experience here. Hotel prices in the Quarter skyrocket when the Saints are playing at home, but folks (including me) don\'t seem to have a problem paying up to enjoy a fun-filled weekend plus a game on Sunday. It\'d hurt the city significantly to lose the business (and income) the Saints bring, so don\'t you think they might step up if serious talk of moving the team was going on?