Posted on 10/30/2005 10:04:14 PM PST by bayourant
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said on Sunday the New Orleans Saints should remain in Louisiana and try to find a broader fan base after the devastation of the football team's hometown by Hurricane Katrina.
"Our focus continues to be on having the Saints in Louisiana," said Tagliabue. He added, "We're trying to develop what we would regard as a new model for the Saints to operate in a rebuilt Louisiana."
Reports that Saints owner Tom Benson has considered moving the franchise to San Antonio, Texas, where it has played games this season, or the richer market of Los Angeles, have angered fans, many still shut out of their homes or businesses.
Tagliabue, who met on Sunday with Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, spoke to reporters in Baton Rouge, where he was attending the Saints first game in Louisiana since Katrina.
The risk of losing the Saints has united state politicians, with U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican, joining Democrats Nagin and Blanco in lobbying for the team to remain in Louisiana.
A vote of three-quarters of NFL owners is required to move a franchise, and Tagliabue dismissed reports of the Saints moving to Los Angeles as "nonsensical."
"Each team in the NFL is franchised to represent a specific community," he said. "The teams, the franchises are not free agents to run around the country and play wherever they want to play."
But Tagliabue said the Saints would have to find a way to appeal to all of Louisiana, not just New Orleans.
The city's population, which was 460,000 before the storm, has been sharply reduced. Nagin has said New Orleans could quickly rebuild to support 250,000 residents, but housing remains in short supply and some question that estimate.
The Saints home stadium, the Superdome, became the home to an estimated 25,000 evacuees from Katrina and sustained heavy damage. Repairs are underway, but Tagliabue said it was still uncertain whether the Saints would play there next season
Here's the video link.
http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=www.wwltv.com/1030thanh.wmv
No way the NFL owners will agree to that. Too much money to be made by the sunbelt cities for the SB (or the rare SB in a snowbelt dome like this year). The promise of a SB is a big lever they use to get new stadiums.
Yep. and the beat goes on.
I know. Its sickening how Benson has so alienated people that it affected the attendance today. It so works into his scheme
It will be tough for Benson to gain approval of 3/4 of the NFL Team Owners to move, especially to San Antonio, where Jerry Jones has a vested interest of keeping another NFC team out of Texas.
Ma, the team hasn't done much to curb the alienation. Has anyone asked the players what they what they want to do?
Eh what?????
Eh??
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.