An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

Here's the link..

http://www.neworleanssaints.com/news...articleid=1401

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

He said they should continiue to operate under the existing agreement, which means no renovation, no extra projects, just pay me the cash Mike foster agreed to until 2011 when the current deal runs out, although he said they will revisit after the season. It\'s better than the talk of moving that\'s for sure.

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

sounds like he wants money agreed on. like howard......smitty

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

So i guess we are held captive for another year

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

Here\'s the problem with this: not talking is usually bad in negotiations.

The State really doesn\'t have the money to pay the Saints under the Foster agreement. We\'ll see if the State can come up with the money to pay the team. If they default, the team can move. If the deal expires without a new one, the team can move (essentially it\'d be a free agent).

Here\'s the way I see it. Benson WILL NOT MOVE THE TEAM. His deal with N.O. is too good. Even after it expires, he\'s too cheap. San Antonion, LA, Portland - they\'re all possibilities, but none has a football stadium (except LA and the Colliseum is crap compared to the Dome. If the Dome isn\'t good enough, the Col. is crap.) Nor do they have practice facilities, a fan base, merchandising outlets, marketing, corporate sponsors, etc. The cost of moving can be huge to an NFL owner, and if Benson is too cheap to replace Haslett b/c it would cost him $6 million over two years, then there\'s no way he\'s going to spend the literally tens of millions to start over somewhere else.

Of course, Benson probably won\'t be behind the wheel too much longer, and THAT is scary. Once Benson leaves, if the Saints don\'t have a long-term deal with the State, that\'s when things could get hairy. Who knows what his granddaughter might do. That\'s assuming that he actually hands the reigns to her and doesn\'t sell the team. If he sells the team we\'re screwed. I doubt that there is anyone in Louisiana with the half BILLION dollars or so it will take to buy the team. That means outside ownership and that\'s when things get bad.

IMHO, the Saints aren\'t going anywhere in the next 4 or 5 years. But after that, if there\'s no long-term deal, I will be real worried about the prospect of the Saints staying in New Orleans.

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

Actually San Antonio has the Alamodome, which is pretty damn nice, and the fan base. But even though I live there, I still don\'t want the Saints to leave New Orleans. News about them not moving is still good to me, where they get the money to pay is up to them.

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

Pardon my ignorance, but I didn\'t think that the Alamo Dome was big enough to serve as an NFL stadium??? Am I wrong?

Also, does it have as many, more, less luxury boxes than the Super Dome??? I don\'t think Benson would move unless it was to a \"better\" stadium or to a place where a stadium was being built for the team.

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

The Alamodome was built as a football stadium. When the Spurs played there, they put up this huge curtain with pictures of the Spurs players to cut it in half.

http://www.sanantonio.gov/dome/Football.asp

They have been looking to put a football team there for years, and yes that do have more luxury suites then the Superdome. 4 Jumbotrons. A tailgate area. Like I said, it was built with the hopes of attracting a football team.

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

Though I couldn\'t find an exact seating figure, here is an article about the Alamo Bowl that is played there.

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

Ummm

Looks like Benson blinked.

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

Whodi - thanks for the info. I stand corrected.

BMG - did he blink? I don\'t know I saw it that way. The State needs to renegotiate to A) reduce short-term direct payments and B) ensure that the Saints will be in N.O. long-term.

I think Benson took his $87 million ball and went home. He\'s laying back saying, \"fine, you don\'t want to give me what I want, then I\'ll just be here waiting for my tens of millions of dollars that is due in a month or two. See you then!\"

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

I agree that he won\'t move the team at least until 2011 or if LA agrees to pay his buy out clause and move them in 2008. I had a different read on the story. I truly believe Benson believes that the longer he stops negotiating and only provides silence to the questions, in the end he will make the state blink. He is a car salesman guys, the oldest trick in the book.

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

add this to the mix:

Blanco seeks meeting date from Saints owner


By The Associated Press
Gov. Kathleen Blanco has invited New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson to the Governor’s Mansion this week or next to resolve stalled contract talks with the team or to determine if a deal can\'t be reached.
\"We have not heard anything back,\" Andy Kopplin, Blanco\'s chief of staff, said.

Tim Coulon, Blanco\'s chief negotiator and chairman of the Superdome Commission, said he sent an e-mail to the Saints on Sunday and spoke to Saints Executive Vice President Arnold Fielkow on Tuesday about a response to the state\'s latest offer, tendered more than three weeks ago.

Benson \"doesn\'t owe us a meeting,\" Coulon said. \"He does owe us an answer.\"

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/...onmtg001.shtml

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

I say the state fund the superdome renovations with bonds. Leave Benson out of it and deduct the value of the extra suites from the amount the state is paying him yearly.

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

Two problems with that, as I see it... I\'m not saying it\'s a bad idea, I\'m just saying that there are two things that I can thing of that might interfere with the plan.

1. I saw something a while back that said that something like 60% of the citizens of LA were against additional funding for Saints-related projects. I can\'t remember where it was, if I can I\'ll look it up. Regardless, $160 million is a big-a$$ bond for a state with no money, a questionable political history (which would affect their bond rating), and a population who doesn\'t want or have money to buy their bonds.

2. I believe that under the current contract, all revenue from the suites goes to Benson, no? If memory serves, he gets just about everything - concessions, etc. - but pays for nothing - staff or supplies, etc.

I think that all \"ticket revenue\" (which is what suites fall under) goes to the Saints. Benson (as with other owners) gets to keep the mark-up on suites, but the normal seating goes to a big NFL pot that is then redistributed to evenly amongst all teams. That\'s why Benson wants more suites. It\'s more money directly in his pocket... which is what all owners want. That and a new toy.


Again, I think this is bad news. He holds all the chips. He has something the State wants. What does the state have? It is already obligated to pay him directly. He has the naming rights to the Super Dome. He has the concessions and suites and merchandising, etc.

At this point, the State has nothing to offer. If they don\'t lock him down long-term, he can pit cities against each other later and really make things expensive for the State to retain him.

No talk is a bad sign, IMO.

An open letter from Saints owner Tom Benson...
 

Didn\'t somebody bring up the gambling money option?

Throw a freaking small casino in the dome and forget about it.

Isn\'t that what Indy did?

In times of economic strain there are a few things that never fade in value: hookers, gambling, alcohol, and drugs :hump: :patos: :cheers:

The Superdome Casino, baby. Build it and they will come :)