lynwood

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1...693494,00.html

One of the likeliest candidates for relocation is the New Orleans Saints, who have an out in their lease after the 2005 season.

The Saints are in discussions with the state of Louisiana over renovations at the Superdome. The current lease calls for the state to pay the Saints $187 million over a 10-year period, but the state is struggling to make those payments.

"We're in serious negotiations, but we've got a lot of problems," Saints owner Tom Benson said. "We're in a small market and the city and the state know that we can't survive without their help.

"When (the current lease) was signed, people felt like if we couldn't work out a permanent solution, it would be best to leave. We're at the point where there's either going to be a permanent solution or there's not. We're either going to get it done or we're not."


What if it is announced before the season that the saints will move( which in my opinion looks like that will happen) to L.A.? Do you abandon them or go to the games? If they move I think I would give up football after they move for that year, kinda flush my system out. and try to like my new hometeam the Texans after that. What else can I do?

LKelley67

it\'s all posturing. he does have a sweet deal and knows it. i think it is a bigger consideration with him, as i asked, \"what if he croaks?\" he either 1)wants to leave a legacy here and pass it down to his family, 2)let the next chapter of his family legacy continue in a different location, or 3) cash in his chips and take the 400-500 million profit on the value appreciation since he bought the team.

that is a good board question tho... what would you do if the saints left for greener pastures? me, i probably would say fock the nfl. i used to be a fanatical baseball fan and still have so many stats stuck in my head i cannot believe it. but the whole game of greed of both the owners and players and allowing the steroid scandal to permanently ruin a century of some sports stats that actually meant something finally took it\'s toll. not a team but the whole sport. i had to break it off like an addict and it took several years for me to approach it again as a casual fan.

if there is a decision to leave they better be ready to do it by the next season when it is announced. otherwise, you might see some serious nastiness in the big easy. modell was worried about his life when he left cleveland for baltimore. football is serious business for louisiana fans.

LKelley67

TAGS HINTS AT EXPANSION

Discussing on Friday the timetable for placing a team back in L.A. after a ten-year absence from the nation\'s No. 2 market, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue hinted for the first time that the league might fill the void by expanding.



Tagliabue explained that, if the league determines by May the arrangements for the building and use of a stadium, \"[T]hen we\'ll move on to the question of what team do we send there. Is it an expansion team? Is it a relocated team?\"



But Tags previously has said that expanding beyond 32 teams isn\'t in the cards, especially since the addition of four teams since 1995 has given the NFL the structure that former Commissioner Pete Rozelle once envisioned.



So what gives? In our opinion, the NFL has concluded that, in order to give both the Saints and the Vikings (and possibly the Colts, whose stadium situation might not be as resolved as believed) the most possible leverage in landing a new stadium in their current locales, the league needs to create the impression (false as it might be) that if both the Saints and the Vikings get new venues, the league will simply plug the hole in L.A. with a 33rd franchise.



As we see it, the NFL is concerned that the folks in Minnesota and the folks in New Orleans are watching each other\'s situations very closely. If, eventually, it looks like the Saints won\'t get a new stadium and likely will move, the folks in Minnesota suddenly won\'t feel the same pressure to get the process finalized or risk losing their team to the same city that bogarted its hoops joint.



That\'s the only problem with using the vacant L.A. market to squeeze a variety of new, publicly-funded stadiums. Eventually, it will be down to two -- and when one of that duo realizes the other will be moving, the nuclear scenario disappears. And with it goes the \"If you build it, they will stay\" thing that has resulted in plenty of taxpayer dollars going to projects aimed at squeezing even more money out of our pockets.



If we\'re right about this, the most nefarious aspect of the NFL\'s plan is that there remains a possibility that both Minneapolis and New Orleans will spend a lot of time and money working out plans for a new stadium, but that one of them will move anyway if, in the end, the NFL decides that it\'s not quite ready to begin stretching the rubber band beyond 32 teams.

FireVenturi

I would give up my season tickets......wait i am already gonna do that since Venturi is still here!! so i guess i would start rooting for tha Dolphins(Saban), but i don\'t think they are goin anywhere.

ScottyRo

Benson is always talking about this but he has yet to prove it. Show us the books. Let us get some accountants after them and see what the real situations is.

Benson\'s problem isn\'t survival. His problem is keeping up with the Joneses. He wants to make as much money as other teams, but they\'re in larger markets and probably have a better history of winning than do the Saints.

There\'s been too much talk about L.A. not being an option for that to not be true to some degree. If the Saints do leave, what will we be giving up besides heartache?

lynwood

quote:\"If the Saints do leave, what will we be giving up besides heartache?\"

I for one would lose the enjoyment of listening to the saints broadcast team on the internet(field pass). I look forward to rooting for the underdog. I\'m really sick of how teams take on the name of the city but the owners control just about everything. What a marketing ploy. If it was Bensen\'s Saints I wonder how many games would sell out? I do believe that the city or state should pay something to the team just for tourist revenue and marketing, but not build stadiums and pay the team to play. If that was the case then the state should have more control over the team. I\'d love to have a business and have the state build my office and pay me no matter how bad or good my business does. Bensen should put a winning team together, and pay what needs to be paid. Even if the team won the superbowl it would still be in a small market. If he wants big market money i see no hope in the team staying.