LA Officials Push For Naming-Rights Deal To Help Saints

LA Gov. Mike Foster's Chief of Staff Stephen Perry said that LA officials "hope to sell the naming rights" to the Superdome by this fall as a "way to produce at least" $3M of the state's $12.5M financial package for the team, according to Ed Anderson of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. Besides the naming rights, Perry said that the $12.5M package to keep the team in New Orleans for the next two years "is similar to a previous offer the state extended." That offer included $2.7M from an increased share of Superdome concessions; $800,000 in free rent; a $4M chunk of the surplus from taxes that go to the Superdome; $250,000 from income taxes on non-resident players at the facility; and about $1M from the sale of 17 now-unleased suites. Perry, on the package: "These are hard dollars. There is nothing squishy here." Perry also said that the package is currently about $500,000 short and those dollars can be found "by moving some tax revenues from New Orleans or the Superdome to make it work" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 7/11). In New Orleans, Jeff Duncan writes that the $12.5M "boost the Saints will receive in their deal with the state should vault the club from the bottom to the middle of the NFL in local revenue, a position team officials say they can live with in the short term" (TIMES-PICAYUNE, 7/11). Also in New Orleans, Jack Wardlaw writes, "I think any impartial study will recommend that the Saints remain in the Superdome, with changes to accommodate their needs. What [Saints Owner Tom] Benson will do if presented with that option is anybody's guess. But it's the only feasible one. And Monday's 'agreement' leaves too many unanswered questions" (N.O. TIMES-PICAYUNE, 7/11).

BRIGHT FUTURE? ESPN.com's John Clayton wrote, "Two years may be enough to turn things around. Maybe it won't. But the big question surrounding this franchise is whether the area can afford the luxury of having [an NFL team]" (ESPN.com, 7/10). A Baton Rouge ADVOCATE editorial notes Monday's agreement and states "there are still details that must be worked out, and explained to a citizenry that has been jaded by the ridiculous antics and demands" of Benson (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 7/11).

Print This Article