Mike Florio ,
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Twenty years after folks in New Orleans spent plenty of time worrying about the Saints possibly leaving town, the topic has returned to the radar screen.
Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes that a new lease for the Superdome, which has been fully negotiated, hasn’t been signed because of pending deals regarding related properties.
The other agreements relate to Benson Tower, Champions Square, and the Saints’ practice facility.
The state, predictably, wants to sign the Superdome deal before focusing on other talks. The team, just as predictably, hopes to leverage the Superdome deal to get better terms on the three incomplete agreements.
“Tying Benson Tower and Champions Square to the broader stadium arrangement is not a windfall,” Saints spokesman Greg Bensel told Duncan. “It is the financial backbone that makes the overall package work in a small NFL market like New Orleans.”
It’s less a game of chess/checkers and more a game of chicken. Will Louisiana risk losing the Saints by driving too hard of a bargain as to the other leases?
And while the article doesn’t use such express terms, Duncan’s tweet is blunt: “ The future of the team in NOLA is at risk .”
The issue has already cost the team and the state a shot at hosting the 2031 Super Bowl. The stakes become much higher if the possibility of relocation arises.
Which leads to this question: Where would the Saints go? San Antonio used to be the most-mentioned alternative. But the Texans and Cowboys would surely fight tooth and nail against the possibility of having their two NFL cities become a Bermuda, Texas triangle of pro football franchises.
Could it be London? Could it be a domestic market that is willing to make the Saints a stadium offer they won’t refuse? The larger markets without NFL teams include Orlando, Salt Lake City, and Oklahoma City. (St. Louis is also viable, but there’s still plenty of acrimony between the city and the league.)
Whether it comes to that remains to be seen. But the alarm bells are ringing in New Orleans. Hopefully, both sides will answer that bell by getting a deal done.
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