Los Angeles Saints

[4bubba]

Thursday, August 19

Saints and state to meet on Sept. 1
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Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) _ State officials and the New Orleans Saints will begin talks on Sept. 1 to discuss ways of keeping the team in New Orleans past 2010, including the idea of building a new stadium.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Wednesday that she spoke about a week ago with Saints owner Tom Benson and they agreed to meet for the first time since June 3.

Since that meeting, the governor has floated the idea of building the Saints a new stadium in tandem with the expansion of the New Orleans convention center.
(Finally the new Gov is telling the truth=the Saints will only settle for a new stadium)

The state is bound to a 10-year, $186 million agreement that Blanco wants to renegotiate. The original deal was negotiated by her predecessor, Gov. Mike Foster, in 2001, giving the Saints cash guarantees and additional concession revenues from the Superdome.

The state had to borrow $7.1 million from a business development program at the Department of Economic Development to make the scheduled $15 million payment this year.

Benson has said he wants a new stadium and, in the meantime, the state should continue to honor the $186 million deal. Blanco has said she favors a renovation of the Superdome, but is willing to study the idea of a new stadium.

About $360 million in cash and bonds have been allocated for a 500,000-square-foot expansion of the convention center. Blanco said one problem could be reallocating money for a smaller expansion and financing part of a new stadium.

The price tag for a new stadium has been put at $450 million. Benson has said in the past that the team and the National Football League could put up about $100 million.

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[4bubba]

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Associated Press



PASADENA, Calif. -- Rose Bowl officials have approved a new $400 million-plus plan to redesign the stadium to house a professional football team.

The board of the Rose Bowl Operating Co. passed the proposal after unveiling it at a public meeting Saturday.

The plan would expand the historic stadium nearly 1 million square feet while adding two four-level towers with 200 luxury suites. Seating capacity would drop from 92,500 to 65,000 and a new ground-level plaza would feature a museum and store.

Rose Bowl officials have courted the National Football League for more than two years in hopes of attracting the region's first pro team since the end of the 1994 season, when the Raiders left Los Angeles and the Rams moved from Anaheim.

An earlier renovation plan released last year was rejected by the NFL following concerns that it would cost an additional $60 to $80 million by constructing facilities under the stadium.

The latest design will go before the City Council in the coming weeks and serve as the basis of an environmental impact report if approved. A draft of that report could be completed by January.

The Rose Bowl company can begin negotiating with the NFL once the environmental review is ratified by the city.

Darryl Dunn, the Rose Bowl's general manager, said the board's action won't prevent the city from altering the design.

"This is just the beginning," Dunn said.

Among other proposed changes are two open-air concourses that would rim the stadium's middle and upper sections and a reduction in parking by almost 4,000 spaces to 18,000.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has said the league would decide on a Los Angeles-area stadium site by next spring, and hopes to have a team there by 2008.

Other sites being considered for a new team include the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and a former landfill in Carson.

The new design will be available for public review starting Sept. 1 at the Pasadena Central Library. The city and the Rose Bowl firm also plan additional public meetings.

 

[4bubba]

Wednesday, September 8, 2004

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- A planned expansion of the city's giant convention center might need to be cut in half if the project was combined at the same site with a new stadium for the New Orleans Saints, according to preliminary architectural work.

Putting the projects together also would use all available land owned by the convention center authority, including the site for a possible convention headquarters hotel.

"Our conclusion is, yes, a stadium and convention center can fit," Ralph Brennan, chairman of the authority, said Tuesday. "If we wind up building the joint project, there will have to be a compromise for the convention center."

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who says she favors improvements to the Louisiana Superdome, has been talking to Saints owner Tom Benson about the possibility of a new stadium. Benson has said the NFL and the Saints can contribute about $100 million of the estimated $300 million to $400 million cost.

Talks started after the state struggled to make its $15 million incentive payment due the team this year. Benson has said he is not willing to give up those payments until the new stadium is built.
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There it is. "A new stadium or we will move" comes from the Saints. Now its up to the State.

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[Cie]

4bubba

you do a nice job overall with info, but you are totally wrong on this one. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you the person who claimed the Saints would be in LA this season????

When I get a chance I will bring you up to speed on this situation.

Cie:weed:

 

[4bubba]

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It heats up.

Whispers from around the NFL

Monday, January 10, 2005


Associated Press
The New Orleans Saints must pay for part of the cost of renovating the Superdome and agree to a reduction in the payments the state makes to the team, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Monday.


Outlining a proposal to renovate the Superdome and negotiate a new lease with the NFL, Blanco said the larger part of the financial burden must be assumed by the team, not the taxpayers.


"The state is spending way too much and spending the taxpayers' money in the wrong way," Blanco said.


The state and the team hope to work out a new, long-term deal that would keep the Saints in New Orleans. The current $186 million agreement with the team negotiated in 2001 by the administration of former Gov. Mike Foster runs through 2010, but the team can opt out after the 2005 season with no penalty.


Under the current agreement, Louisiana is obligated to make annual payments ranging from $15 million to $23.5 million. The state has had a difficult time making the payments because the taxes used for revenue have not generated as much money as projected.


Saints owner Tom Benson, who originally pushed for a new stadium, agreed last fall to a Superdome renovation but wants continued payments and does not want to foot any of the bill for upgrading the stadium. Team officials did not return calls Monday for comment on Blanco's proposal.


Renovations to the Superdome will provide the Saints with the opportunity to earn more money, Blanco said. The renovation would produce new suites; more seating in the lower levels, which would sell for more; more concessions; and other measures.


The estimated cost of the renovation is $168 million. Lawmakers who were briefed on the plan said last week it would require identifying between $10 million and $12 million in new funds. Blanco said, however, it was premature to begin looking for new taxes to pay for the deal. The key is reducing the payments to the Saints and having the team put up some money for the renovations, she said.


"We're trying to put them on an appropriate business-like basis where they can earn their way," Blanco said.


The governor's proposal, which would run through 2025, would also include specific performance obligations, although she did not spell out what they would be, and eliminate the clauses that allow the Saints to get out of a deal early.


Blanco said she would call NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue about the proposal. Blanco said she believes the league and other owners would find Louisiana's offer reasonable and she hoped they would urge Benson to accept it.


"If the Saints are not willing to accept the basic principle of our offer, then we expect them to prove to us with a credible and independent financial review why the proposal doesn't work for them," Blanco said.


Blanco said she would call Benson to discuss the proposal but would not meet with him to negotiate until representatives had hammered out the main details.


If an agreement can be reached, renovation of the Superdome would begin in January 2006.
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Lets see; a governor wants the Saints to:
A) give up a lucrative contract
B) make changes that are worse for the Saints
C) give up money they are contracted for
D) pay for renovations
E) ignore the deals Los Angeles must be offering for the Saints to move there.

Are you kidding me. What a joke. The Saints will do nothing and wait for the next payment. Then they can move.


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[Pujo21]

They can all them The Angels instead of Saints !!!....lol..to baseball like i think..

If not Los Angeles , im sure there might be another city to get them a nice stadium..

what about San Antonio or Oklahoma..... Oklahoma might be a bonanza for a pro football team.

NEW YORK CITY is beating around the bush too with The Jets too ....

 

[4bubba]

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For the record..............

I am not against New Orleans. I like the city much more than LA.

I am against the "head-up-their-ass" bitches that think sports is foolishness. The Gov before her loved the sport and realized its intrinsic worth to a city.




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[4bubba]

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As in a prior article............

"The state is obligated to another $15 million payment next summer. The payments then jump to $20 million for two years and then to $23.5 million for the final three years of the contract. "

The Saints do not have to agree to anything. This July, the state owes 15 million. From what I have read, the money is not there. The Saints hold all the cards.



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[Cie]

Bubba,

I certainly hope that you are wrong again on this one. My information comes from 1 side...........local officials. I hear that Benson (who is not as much of an a$$hole as many locals feel), is willing to bend a bit in an effort to keep the team where it belongs.

What a travesty the Saints' flight to LA would be. A mid-size market with a mean per capita income near the bottom in the United States support the hell out of a perennial loser for 35+ seasons only to lose the team to The Peoples Republic of California in the end. I can assure you that the day the Saints leave will be among the darkest days in the history of New Orleans.

 

[Cie]

Report from WWL in New Orleans:

SOURCES: SAINTS NOT THRILLED WITH OFFER, BUT THERE?S ROOM TO TALK

Sources in the Saints organization say that the offer from the state is very far off from what they need to stay competitive with other NFL teams? earning power. But according to WWL?s Kenny Wilkerson, the offer is not a non-starter, either.

?The proposal that they got from the state is not close to the proposal that they put up. That was to be expected,? says Wilkerson. ?But they also have said that it?s not as bad as they thought it was going to be.?

?Both sides feel as though it still can be done......Governor Blanco doesn?t want to lose the Saints, and at the same time, Tom Benson doesn?t want to be known as the Art Modell of the city of New Orleans.?

Modell moved the original Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in the mid-?90s.

 

[4bubba]

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Cie Grant

Good info. Please keep up here with all "on-the-spot" stories you hear.



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[4bubba]

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Saints get Superdome proposal from state

By BRETT MARTEL
The Associated Press
1/13/2005, 6:03 p.m. CT


NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? State negotiators finished their proposal to keep the Saints in Louisiana at least through 2025 and submitted it to the 38-year-old NFL franchise on Thursday, but details about the progress of negotiations could be kept quiet for some time.

While delivering the state proposal, Gov. Kathleen Blanco's office promised the team that state negotiators would not comment publicly on ensuing talks "until there is something of substance to report."

The Saints' initial response was that there is a "considerable difference" between what the team wants and what was offered by state.

"Nevertheless, we understand how important this matter is to our community and our fans, and as such we have notified the governor's office that we are prepared to begin immediate discussion with them in an effort to reach a long-term agreement," the team said in a written statement.

The statement also said that the team, like the state, would have no further comment during a negotiating period that is expected to end by March 1.

The state has released a summary of its proposal, which includes spending $168 million on modernizing the Louisiana Superdome with better premium seating, additional luxury suites and numerous other amenities.

The state wants the Saints to pay some renovation costs. The governor also hoped the Saints would agree to lower the amount of direct cash subsidies the state has been paying the team annually since the beginning of a 10-year, $186 million deal that was signed in 2001.

The deal calls for the state to pay the Saints $15 million this July, with payments rising as high as $23.5 million in the last years of the deal. The Saints have said they would accept Superdome renovations instead of a new stadium, so long as they continue to also receive cash through the duration of a new lease. The Saints also wanted the state to pay for ancillary projects, including a team hotel in Metairie, a tailgate park near the dome and a multipurpose sports facility in eastern New Orleans.

The Saints have set a March 1 deadline to reach an agreement. NFL meetings are scheduled later that month and Saints owner Tom Benson wants a long-term agreement in place so he can bid for New Orleans to host another Super Bowl as soon as 2010.

State officials say ? after the Superdome has been modernized ? that the Saints should be more responsible for generating their own revenues through marketing and team performance, rather than relying on guaranteed state subsidies.

But Saints officials have said the New Orleans market is now so small relative to those around the rest of the league that it has become difficult to charge as much for admission as other teams and still sell out, regardless of how good the amenities are. Therefore, some cash incentives could still be needed to keep the franchise in Louisiana.

"I think we're sensitive to that, and there is a portion of inducement that remains in place. Just not the same that they have in place now," Superdome Commission Tim Coulon said after the commission's regular monthly meeting Thursday.

During the meeting, the commission also discussed refinancing bond debt for the Superdome, New Orleans Arena and other projects. It is not yet clear how much money the commission will save with the move, but an initial estimate has run around $50 million, Coulon said.

If the savings are indeed that much, it would allow the commission to repay a more than $7 million loan from a state economic development fund that was used to help cover a 2004 payment to the Saints. It also could be used to pay the next two years' payments to the team if the current agreement were to remain unchanged.

Coulon said the benefits of refinancing could be realized within a couple months and in time to make this July's payment to the team.


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[4bubba]

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No Saints issues resolved in first round of talks
But 2 sides express wish for swift accord
Thursday, January 27, 2005
By Ed Anderson
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE -- Negotiators for the state and the New Orleans Saints wrapped up their first round of closed-door talks Wednesday without resolving any of the thorny issues standing in the way of keeping the football team in the Superdome through 2025.

Dome spokesman Bill Curl said the two sides met privately Tuesday and Wednesday for a total of seven hours but no major issues were resolved.

"No firm timetable has been set for the conclusion of negotiations," Curl said. "Both sides have expressed the desire to reach a prompt conclusion. . . . Numerous substantive issues were addressed."

He did not say what those points were.

Curl also refused to say when more talks are scheduled. He said Saints owner Tom Benson and Gov. Kathleen Blanco did not attend the first two days of talks.

Blanco spokeswoman Denise Bottcher said Tim Coulon, Blanco's handpicked chairman of the Superdome Commission; Doug Thornton, the Dome's general manager; and commission consultant Dan Barrett represented the state along with two Dome attorneys.

Coulon could not be reached for comment.

Saints spokesman Greg Bensel was in Mobile, Ala., for the Senior Bowl game and said he was unaware the talks had started.

In the past the Saints have said they would not respond to media inquiries during the negotiations. Saints Vice President for Administration Arnold Fielkow has been the team's point man in negotiating with the state in the past.

Bottcher said results of the talks and their locations will remain private unless there has been a major development, such as agreement between the two sides on a major point.

The state wants to give the Dome a $168 million facelift and make the Saints more responsible for selling expanded luxury box suites and premium sideline seats. Blanco's proposal, unveiled Jan. 10, also asks Benson to reduce or eliminate the annual guarantee the state now pays the team in a 10-year, $186 million deal. Her predecessor, then-Gov. Mike Foster, struck that agreement with Benson in 2001. Blanco also has called on Benson to put up at least $40 million for the renovations.

Benson last year called on the state to renovate the Dome and pay for a sports complex, including a tailgating park near the Dome, as well as construction of an all-purpose sports center in eastern New Orleans. Blanco said the state's proposal deals strictly with the Dome renovations and not the ancillary projects.

 

[4bubba]

State looking at second shortfall in payment to NFL team
2/2/2005, 11:42 a.m. CT
The Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) ? The state likely will be more than $9 million short of the $15 million it owes the New Orleans Saints in a payment due in early July, officials say.

The projected shortfall comes despite an increase in hotel-motel tax collections in Orleans and Jefferson parishes that are used to fund the payment.

David Weidler, the Superdome's senior director of finance and administration, said hotel tax collections totaled $20.16 million through November, compared with slightly more than $16 million collected through the same period in 2003.

A portion of the taxes are a major source of financing the Saints' 10-year, $186 million deal, struck in 2001 by Saints owner Tom Benson and then-Gov. Mike Foster to keep the NFL team in the state.

The projected shortfall is about $9.3 million, $2.2 million more than last year. The gap is larger this year because of other expenses, officials said.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration is currently in negotiations with the Saints to craft a new deal. The governor wants the franchise to reduce or forgo some of the money it was promised in the 2001 deal in exchange for a renovated Superdome that the administration says will produce more revenue for the team.

Benson, who is in Jacksonville, Fla., for the Super Bowl on Sunday, has said he expects the state to honor its financial commitments to the team.

The state borrowed $7.15 million from a special fund in the Department of Economic Development to pay Benson the $15 million guarantee last year.

The payments escalate until they reach $23.5 million in the last two years of the deal, but the Saints have the option to move after the 2005 football season. If Benson moves the club, he must pay the state an $81 million penalty unless the state renegs on the contract.

?__

 

[4bubba]

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To make matters worse for the city/state:

Sparse crowds celebrate early Mardi Gras
Tuesday, February 8, 2005 Posted: 8:00 PM EST (0100 GMT)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Mardi Gras costumes were sparse but so were the crowds Tuesday as the annual extravaganza of parades and parties arrived earlier than usual because of a quirk in the calendar.

"This is the smallest I've seen it in at least the last 10 years," Police Chief Eddie Compass said after posing for a picture with a group of women wearing grass skirts and coconut shells. "I think it's the early date and the rain."

The annual pre-Lent celebration, a combination of family party and Bacchanalian blowout, still resembled the same jubilant citywide spectacle it has been for over a century -- it was just a bit easier to get around.

Along St. Charles Avenue, the normally jam-packed street had stretches of empty spaces when the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, the first of 11 parades Tuesday, made its way past.

The problem was partly that Fat Tuesday is the earliest this year it's been in 15 years -- so far from spring break that it kept much of the college crowd away.

And while Tuesday was cloudy but mild, with the temperature around 70, rain had fallen Monday and during the night, turning some spots muddy.

"It's definitely off," said Fallon Daunhauer, a bartender at Johnny White's in the French Quarter for 21 years. "I think both things hurt. It's not the best weather and it's so early. Too close to Christmas, not close enough to spring break to get the college kids in."


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[4bubba]

Monday, February 28, 2005

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- One day before a deadline the New Orleans Saints had set in their stadium negotiations with the state, team owner Tom Benson said the positive tone of the talks had prompted him to extend discussions beyond March 1.

"All deadlines have been eliminated and it is hoped that a new agreement will be reached before the upcoming legislative session" in April, the Saints said in a written statement Monday afternoon.

The original deadline of March first had been established in order for the Saints to update the NFL about the Saints' long-term status at the league's upcoming annual meeting.

As chairman of the NFL Finance Committee, Benson will still make a report to the league and its ownership at the meetings regarding the status of the current negotiations.

The state wants to replace an agreement reached under the administration of former Gov. Mike Foster, which has forced Louisiana to borrow money to make the annual payments called for by the deal. Those payments will escalate to $23.5 million in the last years of the 10-year deal, which took effect in 2002.

The Saints want a long-term deal and so far have dropped one significant demand, with Benson saying he is willing to stay in a renovated Superdome rather than demand a new stadium. The sticking point is expected to be Gov. Kathleen Blanco's demand that the team bear some of the costs of renovations or accept lower cash subsidies after renovations are complete.

 

[Cie]

I must admit the title of this thread makes my blood boil......

from wwl.com (Saints Flagship AM station)

Governor Kathleen Blanco says she is delighted that the Saints are comfortable with the way the talks are going.

?That makes me more optimistic that we?ll come to some successful conclusions,? said the governor.

Saints Vice President of Administration Arnold Fielkow says they hope to reach an agreement with the state by the start of the legislative session, which is in late April.

?We do believe that negotiations have been going in a positive way,? said Fielkow. ?I think both sides are acting good faith, and you know, we?re going to keep talking.?

Negotiations are expected to resume in a few days. The Saints say if they can work something out in time for the next NFL business meetings scheduled in May, New Orleans will have a good chance at hosting another Super Bowl.

 

[4bubba]

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Another Super Bowl to bypass Dome?
NFL reportedly favors new site in New York
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
By Jeff Duncan
Staff writer
Already out of contention for the 2009 Super Bowl, New Orleans now appears in jeopardy of losing its shot at the 2010 game. (BTW, the current Saints contract with the city ends after that -- so definitely no Super Bowl in New Orleans without a long term contract)

The NFL will play the 2010 Super Bowl at a stadium proposed for the New York Jets on the West Side of Manhattan, provided construction of the $1.7 billion retractable-roof facility is completed by 2009, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The Jets are among a handful of bidders for the rights to develop the West Side stadium site, which is controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Bids are due Monday.

The NFL originally planned to narrow the list of candidates for the 2010 game at its May 25-26 spring meeting in Washington, D.C., then award the game in October or in March 2006. But the league, in an effort to improve the Jets' chances of winning the bid, granted the New York club's request to move up the owners' vote on the 2010 Super Bowl to next week's annual league meetings in Hawaii, which begin Sunday.

Approval of the New York site would require the support of 24 of the 32 club owners.

"I believe that many owners in the league believe that it would be a positive for a Super Bowl to be played in New York in a domed stadium in Manhattan," said Joe Browne, the NFL vice president of communications and public affairs. "However, it may not be a unanimous feeling among the owners. The Jets asked us to have a vote on a conditional Super Bowl for 2010 at the meetings next week. If they do not receive the required 24 votes, then we'll go back at a later date and do it again with more than one city in the bidding."

Saints owner Tom Benson was made aware of New York's push for the 2010 Super Bowl last week when he chaired a special session of the NFL Finance Committee in Florida, Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said Tuesday.

"He has been concerned about this potential scenario for a long time, actually since 2001, when he started negotiating with the state at that time," Bensel said. "There has been no bigger advocate for our city with regards to bringing Super Bowls here than Mr. Benson, so, yes, this is a major concern."

New Orleans, which has hosted nine Super Bowls, more than any other city, is already facing its longest drought as a host city since the National Football League began playing the game in 1967. The Crescent City last played host to the game -- Super Bowl XXXVI -- in February 2002.

New Orleans was eliminated as a finalist for the 2009 game in December when the NFL ruled out cities with unresolved stadium situations. Atlanta, Houston, Miami and Tampa Bay are the 2009 finalists, with Miami considered the front-runner.

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[ELVIS]

if the saints leave i will be pissed as well. typically go to the big easy for a game every year. will not be the same wo the nfl. los angeles does not need another football team, nor does california.

 

[4bubba]

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Still awaiting a briefing from her chief negotiator, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Thursday that she hadn't set up a meeting with Saints owner Tom Benson but would be willing to sit down with him for negotiations on a new deal to keep the team in New Orleans.

"I'm sure we can find a time," the governor said.

Negotiators for the state and the NFL team said a day earlier that it appeared to be time to get Blanco and Benson involved in the discussions again, indicating the negotiators had done as much as they could.

"Both sides said they had to kick it up to us," Blanco said.

The state wants to replace a 10-year agreement reached under the administration of former Gov. Mike Foster, which forced Louisiana to borrow money to make the last annual payment.

The Saints want a long-term deal and have dropped a demand for a new stadium with Benson saying he is willing to stay in a renovated Superdome.

The sticking point is expected to be Blanco's demand that the team bear some of the costs of renovations or accept lower cash subsidies after renovations are complete.

Blanco didn't say if she believed a deal could be done in time for the Legislature to debate any pieces that need its approval. The legislative session begins April 25.

If a deal is not reached in time for legislative action, the Saints and the state would continue to operate under the old agreement, which runs through 2010. The Superdome Commission is considering refinancing the debt on the Dome to make up an estimated $9 million hole in this year's $15 million payment, due July 5.

Under the current deal, the Saints could exercise an option after this season that would allow them to pay an $81 million penalty and leave New Orleans. Benson said he might be willing to drop that clause if the state gives up its right to end the current deal after the 2007 season.