N.O. Saints ponder franchise future as Benson battles NFL

Even before Hurricane Katrina, there was talk about New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson possibly moving the team to San Antonio.After Katrina forced the franchise to play three 2005 games in San Antonio, talk about a permanent change of address has intensified.The New Orleans Saints will soon close

out a grueling season in which they played home games in three different states while building a 3-11 record after 14 games. The Louisiana Superdome received approximately $140 million in damage when Katrina hit New Orleans two weeks before the season opener Aug. 29. Tim Coulon, chairman of the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, which manages the Superdome, said renovations and repairs will be complete by November 2006.Next month, as construction begins on the Superdome, National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue will determine the Saints 2006 schedule. Sites could include early season home games in San Antonio and Baton Rouge and late-season home games in the Superdome.Benson has said little to the media and fans about returning to New Orleans. ESPN has reported Benson plans to sue the NFL if forced to return to New Orleans in 2006. Saints Coach Jim Haslett and players have criticized the NFL for its indecisiveness on the future of the franchise. The Saints did not respond to phone or e-mail messages by press time. Benson versus BlancoCoulon, speaking on behalf of Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, said an amended state agreement post-Katrina committed the team to play some games next season in Baton Rouge or New Orleans.Coulon said no meetings remain between Blanco and Benson, who butted heads while trying to renegotiate a $186-million incentive package approved by former Gov. Mike Foster. Under that plan, the state paid the Saints $15 million annually. Blanco tried to work out a new deal under new conditions for the Saints to stay until 2020 but no deal was reached before Katrina.The Saints have been a part of our past and we want them to be a part of our future but we have to have an agreement with them that makes sense for the future so they can play a key role in our rebuilding process, Coulon said. Regional approachCoulon said Tagliabue and members of the NFL Players Association toured New Orleans last month, met with business leaders, inspected the Superdome and visited the Saints' Metairie training facility.We showed him that there are areas in Louisiana that are up and running and it's a region still viable to support an NFL team, Coulon said. Our dialogue to the NFL has been a more regional approach to the future of the Saints because of the depopulation in the New Orleans area. Minneapolis-based Ellerbe Becket is the lead engineer on rebuilding the Superdome, along with a design team made up of New Orleans firms Sizeler Architects and Billes Architects and Trahan Architects of Baton Rouge.About 70 percent of the roof's exterior was blown away during Katrina, leaving the interior exposed to severe wind and rain damage as 53,000 square yards of carpeting will be replaced along with 15 percent of ceiling tiles and 35 percent of the stadium seats.