jnormand

Can anyone tell me what Benson is doing? I know he just wants to suck money out of the state, but why is he now cutting talks until the end of this season? I don't understand why he can't come up with some money of his own to ensure the Saints stay in NO. Any info would be nice.
:casstet:

shadowdrinker

I\'ll tell you exactly what He\'s doing...Winning...

Anyone with half a clue knows that the State cannot afford to pay the contract the way it is now..Benson knows it..Blanco knows it..pretty much everyone knows it..

What some don\'t know however is..The State has an escape clause, and can back out of the contract...granted..they will have to pay some fines..but..they are inching closer each year to a breech of contract anyway...they are constantly scrambling for ways to pay the Saints and are running out of time and money...

Benson..in not so many words..has allready told us of his intentions...This is a way for him to have his cake and eat it too..harsh as it is..This is a buisness...and Louisiana has very little money...

The State will be forced into excersizing the escape clause..or face breech of contract...they just simply cannot afford to pay the high priced contract...not many States could though...and Benson will sell the Franchise to the highest bidder...go out on his Yacht..and die a happy old man...

The Texans sold for 700 million...Benson can expect near that amount for the Saints...who cares if they last?...once they\'re sold..that\'s it..his money is his...

I mean...face it guys...we are the front runners for the relocation anyways..this was a slick PR move..to seem like the abused old man...damn that Benson is good...

[Edited on 28/4/2005 by shadowdrinker]

LKelley67

i agree shadow. his curt open letter was as close to saying $%#& off to blanco as can be said officially. the only hope is if he has some benevolence to pass the saints down as the family heirloom with his grand daughter at the helm. he certainly doesn\'t need the cash. he may not want his name to be despised by a couple of generations or he might not give a #&%$ like robert irsay moving the colts out of baltimore or modell the browns from cleveland. (those two bigger market cities could at least wrangle an expansion franchise afterwards).

4saintspirit

This decision is a win win siuation for Benson. If the Saints have a good season -- win some playoff games he has a lot more leverage on the state to get more because the whole state will be energized (not just New Orleans fans) -- if the Saints have another mediocre season (or worse) then the state will nix the deal and Benson is free to move without looking like a jerk.

Danno

Thats where I stopped and moved on.

JDib

This is the deal, I know that most people on here don\'t agree with what I\'m about to say, but I have to say it anyway. Everyone says that the state of Louisiana dosen\'t have any money and are a poor state. When you read the newspaper, or watch the news, you constantly hear people talking about how crazy it would be to give any money to the saints when we need money for schools. The truth of the matter is, wether the saints get a new or renovated stadum has nothing to do with the school system in Louisana. Think about it, when we got a lottery the main reason for pushing it was because the revenue was suppost to go to saving schools, when we got the casino all that revenue was suppost to go to the schools, with all that money supposidly going to schools we should have the best school system in the country. But no, the schools are horrible, and why, the state is corrupt as hell and all the politians have their pockets in public money that is suppost to go to benifit the citizens of this state. So when I hear that the state has no money for anything it makes me sick, if the people of this state would quit putting up with the corruption then their would be money for all sorts of things, and yes their would be money for a new stadium for the saints.

I don\'t blame Tom Benson one bit for what he is doing. Think about it. The fact that he\'s a rich man has nothing to do with the NFL in New Orleans, all the NFL owners are rich and Benson is no different. Most other teams either have new stadiums or are in the process of getting them. That is a fact. Benson signed a deal with the state 3 years ago, which was a compromise instead of getting a new stadium. Really compaired to all the other teams getting new stadiums, he actually took a crappy deal. Every one else gets a 400 million or more new stadium and Tom Bension signed a deal for 186 million instead. That really compaired to all the other teams is crappy. Now the state doesn\'t even want to pay that!

The deal is as a state we need to wake up and realize what we have. If we don\'t want to have NFL then so be it, if we can\'t afford it or whatever then fine, but the reality is we have been getting the NFL experience for alot cheeper than most if not all other fans in the country. So if you want to have the NFL in this state then lets step up and be an NFL state, if we are to poor for the NFL then eventually we will have to let it go, its as simple as that. I know though that we have the money and the means to keep them here, we just have to make up our minds to do it.

BooBirdSaint

HEADLINES... Texas gets 4th (Houston has had two NFL franchises) football team. The San Antonio Saints have setup shop in their new 500 million dollar state of the art facility... The reality is that if the Saints don\'t get a new stadium deal in the next year then they will be gone.

[Edited on 28/4/2005 by BooBirdSaint]

spkb25

screw blanco. i love what benson ha done. rather see the state put money into a football team then a bunch of worthless human beings hands. if the poor cant eat i\'d be happier. screw the poor the school systems and everything else. if the school systems suck send your children to better schools and pay for it. if people had to pay for their kids to go to school i would be willing to bet they would care a little bit more abput what their kids performance is. instead it is handed to them like everything else in life. bunch of worthless poor people.

Your team stinks

WhoDat

Shadow - wow, nice post man. You\'re 100% right. I agree totally.

BooBird - I disagree that the Saints will be gone in a year. However, I do feel that after the current deal is completed, they will leave unless the State secures their presence with a new long-term deal before the current one expires. Otherwise, the State won\'t be able to keep up in the bidding wars.


spkb25 - I\'ll just assume you\'re kidding and move on.

yasoon

It\'s a pretty well recognized fact that LA is not an economic hotbed. There are no big companies and Benson has a sweetheart deal in a small market.

Do you know what Arthur Blank just said about the GA dome? He said it\'s old and need to be updated. (It\'s like 15 years old, tops.) Do you know who he said will foot the bill (150 mil)? Arthur Blank. The Superdome is lightyears older than the GA Dome and Atl is LOADED with big business. NO and ATL aren\'t even close in that regard. Why, then, does their owner offer to foot the bill? I think this simple example shows where Benson is coming from vs. a guy who knows how to build an organization and take care of his customers. I hate the Falcons and I cringe at the future, because Blank really runs a class organization.

I don\'t see how anyone can defend Benson at this point. He\'s acting like......a used car salesman. The NFL is the most successful pro league, hands down. Owners are making money hand over fist. Studies have the Saints in the top third as far as making money goes. Let\'s see.....old facility, mediocre team, an area in economic hardship post 9/11. Yeah, it really makes sense that Benson has his hand out.

I used to give Tom the benefit of the doubt, but he\'s lost me in the last couple of years. The Denver game was the worst Saints game he\'d ever seen? He11, that wasn\'t even the worst game of 2004. I just don\'t think he cares a bit about football or the fanbase. How much money does he need? Really.