Saints head coach Mike Ditka used a press conference
Tuesday scheduled around the NFL Draft to "lambast negative
reaction to the team's hike in ticket prices and question
the club's future in the city," according to Mike Strom of
the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. The Saints announced Monday
a ticket increase averaging $8 per seat per game in season-
ticket prices and $18 per seat in individual game tickets.
The new prices are a 25% increase over '98 and represent the
largest one-year hike in franchise history. Ditka: "If
everybody is going to complain, maybe New Orleans doesn't
need a franchise. You ever think about that?" Ditka, upset
with criticism toward the increase, said that if the team
left town tomorrow, "there might not be too many tears
shed." Ditka: "The economic impact would be unbelievable.
Unbelievable, gang. That (Superdome) stadium down there
would be a mausoleum. ... We're trying to put the best
product on the field we can. But, yet, the media doesn't
support it. They think [Saints Owner] Tom Benson is out for
money for himself" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 4/14).
PRICE FIXING: All Superdome seats will fall into one of
two price categories this season. Season tickets will cost
$40 per game regardless of location, and single game tickets
will cost $50. In New Orleans, Peter Finney wrote that by
creating the new price plan, Benson has "enhanced" the value
of the Saints and "positioned himself" to move the team to
another city or sell it (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 4/14).
