With the hurricane damage devastating the city and the Superdome in bad shape, no one knows yet what will happen for the Saints' home opener or beyond. It's been suggested in the past that unless he got a new stadium built for him, Saints' owner Tom Benson might sell the team to someone who would move it to Los Angeles -- Katrina might push that option closer to reality.

Not very likely they'll be on the road all year. I didn't see it mentioned in any of the stories I read, but what about Independence Stadium in Shreveport? It holds upwards of 55,000 or so.

LSU is obviously a good choice... but I doubt they want the field to take that wear and tear.

The Alamo Dome in San Antonio could be an option... Legion Field in Birmingham another one. We'll see... but the NFL won't let them be on the road all year long.

If they aren't playing in Louisiana it's a road game. wink

I'm betting on LA to be home of the Saints, possibly San Antonio.

With the current estimates that it will be 3 - 4 months before the city is inhabitable again, it seems clear they won't be playing in New Orleans. My guess is they will split their games between the fields at LSU, Ole Miss and Grambling - assuming those three are in playable condition, or will be soon.

A few years ago it would have been. The upper deck of Legion Field has been condemned and they have removed it. It's in bad shape and wouldn't be good for them. There is Ladd-Peebles in Mobile but it only holds about 41,000. Well, to think of it, for the Saints, that might be enough!

[ September 01, 2005, 08:51 AM: Message edited by: Aubie in Bham ]

Was unaware of that... just something I had read in one of the stories about the Saints. Guess B'ham isn't an option then.

And that was my thought exactly about Independence Stadium. I'm sure attendence figures would be comparable to attendence at the Superdome, but I'm not sure what those figures are.

An article in today's NY Times confirms the Saints will not be able to play in the Superdome this year. The Alamodome in San Antonio will probably be their home this season. Like the Superdome, it seats 65,000.

Well the Giants get a 9th home game, as the Saints game has been moved to the Meadowlands.

As for the other games, GM Mickey Loomis said that he'd prefer the games played in Louisiana, which if that holds would mean Saints games in either Baton Rouge or Shreveport. Benson's past ties to San Antonio still make them a candidate as well.

I'm sure the Saints and the NFL are hoping for Baton Rouge to be the home of the Saints.
At over 90K in seating capacity it has the biggest potential for ticket revenue which is a good thing for all 32 NFL clubs given the revenue sharing agreement they have.

Tell them to try Green Bay. After all, that city doesn't have a pro football team.

If they wind up playing their home games in Baton Rouge, I would hope that the school/team makes a strong push to have any references to "Death Valley" removed from the venue.

It would seem to be such an inappropriate nickname for the place at this time or anytime in the future.

On ESPN they said there's talk that Saints owner Tom Benson wants to move the team permanently to San Antonio. Whether he'll be allowed to is another question, especially since the team gets subsidies from the state of Louisiana. And on my local news they said that the head of the Superdome says it will have to be torn down.

I'm surprised there's been so little talk of the possibility of the Saints plating at least some of their home games here in Los Angeles. We have the stadium, no other pro football team, and the NFL wants a team based here, eventually. The league could use the this season to get some gauge as to the level of support a team would have out here....or even make the (long rumored) relocation of a team to Los Angeles come to pass by moving the Saints here.

~Adam

It would be a slap in the face to the city to allow the saints to move to SA or LA. That is why i doubt they will allow this...

Well, the grand poobahs of the NFL have spoken. Responding to an LA county supervisor's suggestion that the LA Coliseum be the temporary home for the New Orleans Saints, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said: "We appreciate the offer; Los Angeles is not under consideration."

Was it something I said?

~Adam

Adam, I agree that the huge Los Angeles market is a glaring gap in the NFL and needs to be addressed soon, but to move the Saints there, even for just this season, would likely not go over well with the fans. Even San Antonio, despite being closer to New Orleans, is in a different state and thus I think the best choice is Baton Rouge providing the stadium facilities are adequate. This would at least give some semblance of 'normalcy' and local identity to the team and fans, and something to cheer about after all the misery and chaos; sort of like in the weeks following Sept 11/01 when New Yorkers were urged to get out and support their sports teams.

[ September 07, 2005, 10:13 AM: Message edited by: Marc ]

Wouldn't Baton Rouge be a logistical nightmare? The city is already bursting at its seams with dispaced persons, FEMA has appropriated hotel space for their own workers, the police force is already stretched thin, and its own business community (the support system for any fans who come to town to support the Saints) took its own hit from Katrina. I wonder whether having the Saints play there would be the proverbial final straw for Baton Rouge.

~Adam

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports that based on info from key league sources, the Saints will probably never return to New Orleans. The report says they'll play in San Antonio in 2006 and the league would like them to end up in Los Angeles.

Predicted newspaper headline somewhere... NFL to NOLA: Drop Dead! eek!

Tom Benson hires Baghdad Bob to take over the team's P.R. department; "We will play in the Superdome again, as soon as we find another place to store the weapons of mass destruction.



I saw this online this morning and died laughing

When they come to LA, they better change the team name. Los Angeles & Saints just don't go together at all. It's even more incongruous than Utah Jazz, also a one-time New Orleans team.

~Adam