How ironic would this be? Saints to LA?
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WASHINGTON – New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson said at Tuesday's league meetings that he has received an offer of more than $1 billion for his franchise but insisted he's committed to conducting business as usual for the 2005 season before deciding the future of the team.
Benson's $1 billion-plus assertion is almost unbelievable in the context of the NFL. That price would be the highest paid for a team in the history of the league – far more than the record $800 million Daniel Snyder paid to purchase the Washington Redskins in 1999 and nearly double the $625 million Red McCombs stands to receive for his sale of the Minnesota Vikings this week.
Benson says his personal attorney, Stanley Rosenberg, received a "written offer" for the amount.
Adding to the intrigue, Benson has been locked in a contentious battle with state officials over his team's lease of the Louisiana Superdome. On Tuesday here at the owners' annual spring meetings, he sounded like a man who is more than prepared to use a possible move to the Los Angeles market as a bargaining chip.
Though Benson said he wants to stay in New Orleans, he refused to guarantee that he would remain in the city at the end of the upcoming season, when he has a 90-day window to break his lease with the Superdome for an $81 million penalty. Asked if he would consider a move to Los Angeles at that time, Benson said, "You consider everything.
"I don't want to leave New Orleans, and the people don't want us to leave New Orleans – the majority of them, anyway," Benson said. "Unfortunately, we've got a lot of people who watch television that maybe can't afford to buy tickets. Maybe we can work that out, you know?"
Perhaps no franchise has as clear a path to Los Angeles as the Saints, who are struggling through multiple issues heading into the upcoming season.
Benson is unhappy with the state of the aging Superdome. Season ticket sales are hovering around a tepid 25,000, a circumstance the owner termed as "terrible." And local officials want to renegotiate the lease with the team because the state is struggling to come up with subsidies owed to Benson as part of the current deal. Due to the struggling New Orleans economy, the state may come up as much as $10 million short.
The Saints and state officials were millions apart during stadium negotiations last month, which included Superdome renovations and lease terms. At the time, Benson seemed amenable to renovating the Superdome, with the team paying a portion of those costs. On Tuesday, however, he sounded more interested having a new stadium constructed than renovating the old one.
"I don't think just remodeling the Superdome is going to do anything," Benson said. "You've got to compete today ... Dallas is going to put $750 million in their new stadium. These New York teams are going into new stadiums. The Colts are going into a new stadium. San Francisco is working on a new stadium. Everybody. So you're competing with them and what they're doing – that's why we're having a problem."
Benson was consistently evasive on the subject of a possible move to Los Angeles, saying that he wasn't interested in talking about breaking his lease with the Superdome. Should the Saints break their lease, which runs through 2010, they would have to repay $81 million in subsidies that have been given to the team since 2001.
But such a penalty, in the context of a $1 billion sale, would be a small price to pay.
While he said he's not actively pursuing buyers, Benson said Rosenberg has received several offers for the team. He repeated that he wanted to retain ownership, and eventually turn it over to his granddaughter, Rita Benson-LeBlanc, who is the team's chief operating officer.
Yet when he was asked if he were guaranteeing that he wouldn't sell the team, Benson replied, "I didn't say that.
"I'm not going to do anything until February after we win the Super Bowl," Benson said. "[Fans] can do whatever they want with that, and you can do whatever, but I'm not going to do anything until the season is over. I don't care if they offer me six billion dollars."
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WASHINGTON – New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson said at Tuesday's league meetings that he has received an offer of more than $1 billion for his franchise but insisted he's committed to conducting business as usual for the 2005 season before deciding the future of the team.
Benson's $1 billion-plus assertion is almost unbelievable in the context of the NFL. That price would be the highest paid for a team in the history of the league – far more than the record $800 million Daniel Snyder paid to purchase the Washington Redskins in 1999 and nearly double the $625 million Red McCombs stands to receive for his sale of the Minnesota Vikings this week.
Benson says his personal attorney, Stanley Rosenberg, received a "written offer" for the amount.
Adding to the intrigue, Benson has been locked in a contentious battle with state officials over his team's lease of the Louisiana Superdome. On Tuesday here at the owners' annual spring meetings, he sounded like a man who is more than prepared to use a possible move to the Los Angeles market as a bargaining chip.
Though Benson said he wants to stay in New Orleans, he refused to guarantee that he would remain in the city at the end of the upcoming season, when he has a 90-day window to break his lease with the Superdome for an $81 million penalty. Asked if he would consider a move to Los Angeles at that time, Benson said, "You consider everything.
"I don't want to leave New Orleans, and the people don't want us to leave New Orleans – the majority of them, anyway," Benson said. "Unfortunately, we've got a lot of people who watch television that maybe can't afford to buy tickets. Maybe we can work that out, you know?"
Perhaps no franchise has as clear a path to Los Angeles as the Saints, who are struggling through multiple issues heading into the upcoming season.
Benson is unhappy with the state of the aging Superdome. Season ticket sales are hovering around a tepid 25,000, a circumstance the owner termed as "terrible." And local officials want to renegotiate the lease with the team because the state is struggling to come up with subsidies owed to Benson as part of the current deal. Due to the struggling New Orleans economy, the state may come up as much as $10 million short.
The Saints and state officials were millions apart during stadium negotiations last month, which included Superdome renovations and lease terms. At the time, Benson seemed amenable to renovating the Superdome, with the team paying a portion of those costs. On Tuesday, however, he sounded more interested having a new stadium constructed than renovating the old one.
"I don't think just remodeling the Superdome is going to do anything," Benson said. "You've got to compete today ... Dallas is going to put $750 million in their new stadium. These New York teams are going into new stadiums. The Colts are going into a new stadium. San Francisco is working on a new stadium. Everybody. So you're competing with them and what they're doing – that's why we're having a problem."
Benson was consistently evasive on the subject of a possible move to Los Angeles, saying that he wasn't interested in talking about breaking his lease with the Superdome. Should the Saints break their lease, which runs through 2010, they would have to repay $81 million in subsidies that have been given to the team since 2001.
But such a penalty, in the context of a $1 billion sale, would be a small price to pay.
While he said he's not actively pursuing buyers, Benson said Rosenberg has received several offers for the team. He repeated that he wanted to retain ownership, and eventually turn it over to his granddaughter, Rita Benson-LeBlanc, who is the team's chief operating officer.
Yet when he was asked if he were guaranteeing that he wouldn't sell the team, Benson replied, "I didn't say that.
"I'm not going to do anything until February after we win the Super Bowl," Benson said. "[Fans] can do whatever they want with that, and you can do whatever, but I'm not going to do anything until the season is over. I don't care if they offer me six billion dollars."