Questions about the future of the LA Superdome "have
surfaced" as Saints Owner Tom Benson is "considering several
options" to increase the team's revenue, including building
a new stadium in New Orleans, moving the Saints to another
city or "trying to get a more lucrative deal" at the
Superdome, according to Stewart Yerton of the New Orleans
TIMES-PICAYUNE. But data showed that the Superdome might
"fare better financially" without the Saints as tenants.
The annual audit of the Superdome and Exposition District
shows that the facility "could live profitably" without the
Saints, because the Superdome has "built enough business
from other sources," such as sports events, concerts and
conventions, that losing the Saints would not "hurt the
stadium's bottom line," which is "buttressed" by taxes. The
ten Saints games per year represent "fewer than" 20% of the
events held at the Superdome each year, and produce a net
revenue of $5M for the stadium, 31% of the stadium's $16M in
overall revenue in FY '99. Non-Saints events brought in
$5.6M in net revenue. The Superdome paid the Saints $5.9M
in the form of "inducements" last season, including 42% of
concession sales, and all revenue from "luxury skybox sales
and fan parking." The Superdome had a surplus in FY '99 of
$860,000; without the Saints, "and assuming the same revenue
stream from all other sources," the Superdome would have had
a surplus of about $2.1M (N.O. TIMES-PICAYUNE, 11/26).
