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Saints Could End Up In L.A.
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The other major professional team in town, the NBA's Hornets, will play 35 home games in Oklahoma City and six in Baton Rouge this season. Hornets owner George Shinn told the Times-Picayune newspaper he hopes to play three regular season games in March at New Orleans Arena, which is expected to be ready for occupancy by then. The arena was flooded and has structural damage.
One NFL team owner, who is a member of an owners advisory panel appointed by Tagliabue to look into the Saints issue, said "the league is trying to do the right thing" and keep the franchise in New Orleans but might not be able to do so because the city "has terrible troubles."
"I can't imagine spending that kind of money on the stadium when everything else needs to be fixed," said the owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Tagliabue said last month that the league wanted to participate in the discussions about the rebuilding of New Orleans and be a part of the city's rebirth but that it was premature to speculate about the Saints' future when the entire Gulf Coast region was trying to recover from the hurricane. It's possible that Tagliabue will address the Saints' situation publicly this weekend. The matter was to be discussed at an owners' meeting Wednesday and Thursday in Kansas City, Mo., but the meeting was postponed after the death of Giants owner Wellington Mara on Tuesday.
The Saints have already taken steps to attempt to void their lease at their training facility. Officials said they have until Nov. 27 to exercise a clause in their Superdome lease that enables them to void the lease and leave New Orleans without having to repay the state $81 million in subsidies if the Superdome is unusable. State officials said they would contest any attempt by the Saints to exercise that clause.
Benson issued a written statement last week saying that he had made no decisions about the future of the team beyond this season. A Saints spokesman said Wednesday that the team had no further comment about its future.
Shapiro reported from Washington.
