RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Take it for what it's worth, an internet rumor, and I know the guy who posted it well- he likes this kind of tense and resque rumor. But it's an interesting theory... I posted the whole thing with a link at the bottom so you guys can completely do-do all over yourselves.

Remember you heard it here first. The rumor is spreading that owner Tom Benson has agreed to sell the Saints to an investment group in L.A. (that’s Los Angeles, not Louisiana). Benson was said to be livid about stories that he used state money, intended to subsidize the team, to subsidize his lavish lifestyle instead. The purchase of particular interest was Benson’s new 122-foot yacht, valued between $12 million and $20 million.

T-P reports that records show that “Benson Football, which three years ago signed a landmark deal with the state that promises the Saints $186.5 million in inducements over 10 years, owns what was ranked as the 190th largest yacht in America when it was completed in 2002. It's unclear who paid for the boat…�

The team’s official attempt at misdirection came from spokesman Greg Bensel, who released a written statement that: “The real issue before us is not what Mr. Benson can afford, but whether the Saints will remain in New Orleans and be economically successful in this small NFL market against teams from much larger cities, such as the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots who are playing in Super Bowl XXXIX.�

“The issue is whether the Saints will continue to have sufficient stadium revenues to remain competitive on the field within the NFL system and in a very tough NFL environment where 20 new or vastly renovated stadiums have been built through public-private partnerships in the last 13 years,� he said.

A few weeks ago, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said the team should open its financial books to scrutiny as team and state officials try to negotiate a long-term agreement to keep the Saints in the city. The Saints have long refused to do that or discuss the team's profits. Blanco was reported to be “very surprised� to learn that Benson Football, controlling partner of New Orleans' NFL franchise, owns a yacht, according to a spokeswoman.

Did he say remain competitive? Let us know what you think about these developments.


Link

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

If I were Benson, dealing with a state government as corrupt as any in USA history, and they called me to the carpet on how I spent MY OWN MONEY, I\'d tell Blanco and the rest of her parasites to shove up their collective . I\'d post an add in the Los Angeles classifieds.
For Sale:
Blanco Close-out!!!
NFL Franchise, Los Angeles Saints.
Contact Tom Benson, New Orleans Louisiana
If you must ask the price, you can\'t afford it.

Thanks Louisiana, you made your own bed by electing that witch, now lay in it.

At least you\'ll have the Hornets! ROFLMFAO!

[Edited on 14/2/2005 by Danno, Future Falcon Fan]

[Edited on 14/2/2005 by Danno]

[Edited on 2/14/2005 by Halo]

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

You know this is depressing, but I know you have to post it, but I don\'t completely believe it, but maybe I do.... and I don\'t know....


Depression sets in :(

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

I hope that if Benson sells this team to someone who moves it from La, that the citizens of New orleans will be smart enough not to contribute further to Benson\'s wealth by buying anything from him in the future. Boycott the PooDoo. Boycott his other businesses as well.

Benson, Just take the money and run.

I would prefer this to the state continuing to pay this man a dime, though. I\'ll see this rumored \"investment group\" wishing one day that they had stayed in our fair city!

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

You\'ve got to take this for what it\'s worth : A RUMOR!!

Anytime I read: \"Remember, you heard it here first\" -- I think... Get ready to read a RUMOR!!

Halo -- You know the dude .... what do you make of it? If I knew him ... I would tell you what I thought. Oh, and don\'t go scaring me with anymore of those \"shock\" posts!! :P

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Billy, I think he\'s just doing us all a favor with this, cuz one day it\'s likely to be an official announcement.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Considering Halo posted \"Get your trash from the net\", I think Halo thinks it\'s just a rumor that has no legs.

Hell, what am I talking about. I don\'t know what Halo thinks.

I can never figure Halo out. The only thing I know about Halo is ..... when he sends you a private E-mail, he means business...LMAO!

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Benson sold his car dealerships and businesses many many years ago. All he owns and runs are the Saints.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

from a msg board the writer is on-

RE: Saints moving?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Honestly duncan, if all the saints fans are like you then they should just move the whole f~in city down to antartica.


[Edited on 14/2/2005 by JOESAM2002]

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

If you had any doubts about AB\'s ego, then you have to do this if you haven\'t already:

1) Click on link from Halo\'s original post

2) Click on Tales From the Sideline...highlighted in purple

3) Drag the page down to bottom, look to left, click on AB\'s
book...Aaron Brooks, highlighted in brown

4) Under the book, with AB\'s picture on it, click on search
inside this book

5) Drag the page down, click on next page on right

6) Read and enjoy

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

When ESPN\'s Chris Mortensen was recently asked about the possibility of the Saints moving to L.A., he believes that at this point the odds are 50-50!!!

Mort is usually pretty plugged in to more than just rumor mills and his odds should be taken very seriously.

I would be devestated if the Saints moved and would be hard pressed to support the team. It is a possibility because it\'s not about the fans or the city - sadly, it\'s all about biznes!

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Really....? Damn.

I didn\'t know that.

Now the only real hope is if Benson or the Governor were removed from the picture.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

well i think its a hard thing to wish nothing more then that the gov. and benson would go away but i wouldnt expect it. the fact is we have to wait till both se whats best for both of them

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

He owns the VooDoo too, doesn\'t he? I\'m not from N.O. and don\'t make it that way much but I thought I heard he was going to start selling mercedes or something. Regardless, the sentiment is valid one way or the other.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Guys (and GumboBC too)


I heard this rumor in Columns Hotel on St. Charles avenue on Saturday before Mardi Gras while I was drinking a Bombay Sapphire Gin Martini. John\'s a great guy, he was the previous owner of blackandgold.net and was responsible for it\'s rebirth- I think of him like a mentor, he enabled me to take the site and run with it, otherwise you\'d be surfing a forum in HTML script designed in 1996, with one guy writing on the front page about how the Saints are a flawless organization.

Is this true? It may be. It may also be that people are trying to suit the Saints from LA. Personally, I don\'t think Benson\'s gonna sell a team because they thought he bought a yacht with his money. The money generated by the Saints in advertising and revenue through the hotel/motel tax only within New Orleans is a portion of that tax they (the Saints) generate themselves and Benson and the team are entitled to it. That will be revealed and is already known, if you think otherwise you\'ve allowed the press or the politicians and press in North Louisiana who are very jealous of New Orleans or the Saints to convince you otherwise. Tom Benson is entitled to use his money as he sees fit and I don\'t think he\'s going to sell the team over these threats.

I think he would sell the team for 1 billion dollars, which would be landmark and so much money that anyone would be stupid not to sell.

Is the rumor true? I don\'t think anyone claims this to be true. Remember it says, \"The rumor is spreading that owner Tom Benson has agreed to sell the Saints to an investment group in L.A. \" That doesn\'t say I heard he sold to an investment group or Times Picayune hears a sale in immenent.

In New Orleans this rumor is spreading around. But remember in 2002 there was rumor that Microsoft was going to build a headquarters in downtown New Orleans... years ago there was a rumor that the Minnesota Timberwolves were moving to New Orleans and it was a done deal... years ago there was a rumor that the New Orleans Saints were sold to a group of investors in Jacksonville Florida.... and so on.

As for internet trash, I LOVE INTERNET TRASH RUMORS!!! YOU DO TOO!!! We all do, that\'s what this site is all about. That\'s why I pump my own money into this sink hole site, I love all this. If the Saints were to be sold I\'d cry because blackandgold.net wouldn\'t be ticking the whole Saints organization off anymore and they me and Scott Balot and anyone else for that matter wouldn\'t be getting kick out of their media room!

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Was this portion italicised for emphasis or is it someone else\'s statement?

Basically the logical conclusion to the first part of the statement is that the Saints are entitled to the \"tax\" money and the State should only get what Benson wants the State to get since it is his after all. Pretty ridiculous. If this is the way it supposed to be shouldn\'t all businesses get similar breaks from the state. All businesses generate revenue to the State, right? This statement just seems like it is coming from someone who is willing at any cost to keep the Saints in La even if it were at a loss for the State.

See, if Benson had actually made good moves with this team and made them winners rather than the losers they have been, he wouldn\'t have to worry about being competitive financially. It\'s like this...if the team wins more, there\'s higher demand for tickets. Higher demand for tickets means he can charge a higher price. Even a simple $10 per ticket price escalation would net approximately $7 mil extra per season. However, add to that higher merchandise sales and such and who knows how much more that could be. The bottomline is that Benson wants this money so he can continue to be an inept owner while making the money he would have made otherwise had he not been so inept.

Lastly, I take exception to the so-called North Louisiana bias towards the Saints. I haven\'t read everything on this issue by far as it relates to politics, but what I have seen is generally complaints made from state legislators whose constituents are in the south portion of the state. This statement seems to be an attempt to deflect criticism of Benson and blame the blind, non-thinking followers of the evil politicians from the North. Yeah, that must be it.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Nice post, Scotty. I assume that if this \"rumor\" actually does exist, then it would more than likely have been started by someone within Benson\'s group on direct orders from Benson himself.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

It\'s my statement, I emphasiized it with italics to set apart my opinion.

That\'s your opinion and I respect that, so please don\'t try to disrepect mine as \"pretty rediculous,\" I don\'t think much of yours but I know it exists.

Yeah, you know the money his team creates because it plays here in New Orleans and generates money because it increases travel and tourism dollars and jobs throughout the city and river region that the rest of the entire state does nothing to support but benefits from, a portion of that money is entitled to him.

I, like many, would more importantly see the money go exclusively to the City of New Orleans where it belongs. I don\'t think people outside the city should benefit from revenues created in New Orleans, especially the same people and politcians who regularly trash mouth the city in Baton Rouge only to turn around and hog as much of that money for their \"slush funds.\" That money belongs in the education system in New Orleans which desperately needs it and not to pave the roads in Bunkie or build a loop around Baton Rouge for that matter.

And that statement just seems like it comes from someone who wants all the profits to benefit his town or area and doesn\'t care if the organization is profitable on par with other NFL teams so they don\'t move. Sounds like someone could care less if the Saints remain in New Orleans or not.

I agree with a lot of that, but unfortunately this isn\'t about the Saints being winners or losers, this is about trying to keep a viable business in the state of Louisiana. Incentives are given to Avondale each year, if Avondale builds a defective ship design this year that needs repair they are still entitled to their incentive package.

Probably because you\'re from North Louisiana.

It\'s funny how I was there last week and spent hours with common folks who told me they could care less about the Saints or New Orleans, generally don\'t like the place and even one commented \"wish New Orleans would have been destroyed by the hurricane\"

boy that\'s real funny... ha ha, you gotta love our brothers up there... great ambassadors they are.

Truly I agree with you. I think the State should make a performance based package for the team, but they would also have to do that for every other business they attract to the State, including auto plants and chemical plants etc. and no business would go for it.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Halo - how\'d I miss you? When were you there. I was at the same place doing the same thing on Saturday... then I rode in Okeanos on Sundy Morning. Fun.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Okay.....

I have been unbiased when it came to the Saints/State issue. I could see both sides and I think both of \'em had some valid points.

But, after reading Halo and Scotty\'s posts. I\'m going to have to agree with Halo. But, I do think Scotty has some valid points.


I brought up in a previous posts that it doens\'t work this way for other businesses. I used the casinos in Mississippi as an example. But, I agree with Halo. Casinos and football teams are different. Benson has to compete with other NFL owners who receive money from their states! Benson didn\'t set the rules, but he\'s got to play by them. And, like Halo said, the Saints generate a lot of money for New Orleans that wouldn\'t be there otherwise!!

I want the Saints to stay in New Orleans. Not at all costs. But if the State isn\'t losing money, then I\'m fine with it. Give Benson what it takes to compete.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Without quoting that which I\'m referring to, I\'d like to add a few things.

It is true that the Saints generate money for the State. I never said otherwise. However, just as other businesses generate money for the state, the Saints should not be paid out of that money without a showing that they truly need it and that the team has done everything it could to avoid needing it.

I have said before that I want the payments from the State to Benson stopped. But I have also said that I\'d prefer that by way of tax cuts or whatever, Benson receive a benefit to keeping the Saints here.

I don\'t mean mean to be rude when I say it\'s a ridiculous statement to say that the Saints should be allowed to force the State to pay to the team money that is earned by the State through taxes in order to keep the team. It just is. Next we\'ll have all the conventioners wanting to do the same thing. (Conventions bring in lots more money than do the Saints.)

See, up here in the backwoods called Monroe, LA we had a company called State Farm that had a pretty big base of operations here. The short of it is that they decided to leave and it is going to be a huge negative impact for this city at tleast in the short term. That being so, I would object just as vehemently to Monroe or the State paying cash to State Farm in order to keep it here. Again, tax breaks or something that might equal the cash would be fine, but I don\'t see cash payments as being something beneficial.

I am from North Louisiana and I do take exception to the so-called bias. It\'s true that you can find people that don\'t give a whoot about the team or the city of N.O. But I think it\'s true of any city in the State - north or south - even N.O. However, I\'m going to further object to your using those people that you spoke to here as an argument against my exception to the north La bias since at least one of those characters seems to be of the dispicable kind. I don\'t know anyone that wishes (or openly wishes) that N.O. would have been destroyed. That particular person needs help and his/her opinion should be ignored.

Halo, you said that one of my comments seems to come from somebody that doesn\'t want this team to be on par with other NFL teams financially. The problem is, you can\'t tell me that the Saints are not on par with other teams. It just sounds like a logical conclusion because N.O. is an economically depressed area (along with most of the rest of the State), but that doesn\'t make it true. I suspicioun that it may be true to a degree but not nearly as badly as Benson wants us to believe so that he can get more money. He wont allow his books to be looked at and that tells me he\'s hiding something. If he were more open in showing how badly the team performs against the rest of the NFL, it might influence me a bit more to take a less opposing stance to helping him.

Maybe in the end an incentive based package would be best -even if it included cash payments. At least then we\'d know that he\'d likely be trying to win many games rather than just enough to appease us.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

Well put Scotty. I agree almost entirely, except for the argument that there is no bias. My experience has been that there is, and it seems to be working here. However, the rationale for your position is solid, and I can\'t disagree.

RUMOR: Get your trash from the net-Saints as good as gone...
 

the saints ain\'t going nowhere... who would take \'em? i\'ll still be critiquing the NEW ORLEANS saints when i\'m 80 years old