WhoDat

While I'm not exactly excited about the way Blanco is handling the situation with the Saints, she's right - this is about money.

Now there have been a lot of studies about the impact of a professional sports franchise on a community. Some show that they generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year from TV contracts, ticket sales and hotel stays from out of towners, taxes on wealthy individuals and the franchise itself.

Others show that there is little impact, especially in a place like New Orleans. The one or two thousand fans that travel with their team 8 games a year really don't even come close to making a dent in the tourism revenue in the City. Likewise, the money the Saints earn is discretionary income. People would probably spend that money on something else anyway, if not on the Saints. So maybe the Saints aren't really responsible for all this income. Maybe it would just be redistributed to other local businesses. Wouldn't that help the community more than one wealthy man making more money? There's no doubt that a franchise brings prestige to a town, but does that really help? Have the Saints really generated new business for the community? Or do local businesses have to support the Saints by buying housnds of tickets on Thrusday afternoons to ensure the Saints get another sellout and the League and Networks continue to make money on their lucrative TV contracts?

I did a little research and found this article on Forbes web site.
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2003/0915/081tab.html

The Saints are ranked 20th in overall team value. If you look only at that, Benson crying poor might not be so bad. Likewise, Benson's REVENUE ranks the Saints 18th in the league. Not good, but also not one of the 5 poorest like he makes out. But here's the kicker. The Saints OPERATING INCOME... key word... income (as in money Benson puts in his pocket after taxes) ranks EIGHTH (8th) in the league. These numbers are of 2003. So while Benson is crying about not making enough money to remain competitve in New Orleans, just keep in mind, 24 teams make less money every year than Benson. New Orleans has dropped from the 16th largest city in the country in 85 when Benson bought the team to 44th. Yet Benson makes more money with the Saints than teams in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, St Louis, etc. etc. etc.

The only teams that make more than the Saints are the Skins, Patties, Cowboys, Broncos, Texans, Bucs, and Panthers, in that order. You think DC, Boston/New England, Dallas, Denver, and Houston are bigger markets than NO? Much, much, mcuh bigger. Tampa is surprising, but then there are as many people in FLA as there are in LA, MS, AL combined. Likewise, the Panthers are the only thing going up in the research triangle. The Saints are flanked by Houston, St Louis, Tennesee, Atlanta, and Tampa. A lot of geographic space, but very few people and even fewer wealthy ones.

If you add $10 million a year to what Benson makes now, the Saints would have the 3rd highest operating income in the league. Let's just keep that in mind next time we all want to bash the governor and pretend like Benson isn't really a slimy car dealer.

All that said, I really hope that the Saints and the State work something out to keep the team there. I think overall the Saints probably have a minimal positive impact on the economy, and do add a certain level of prestige to the City.