re: Change of Pace - Superdome Stadium Replacement?

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If they did this, they just need to play say in Tiger Stadium for a season and let them build in the same exact spot. The location itself is as big a reason we've gotten so many events here as the stadium itself.

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While I agree with this, I do not look forward to September Sunday afternoons in TS.

The Hotel / Condo / Convention Center proposal by Howard Hughes actually looks pretty nice, and would be used more year round than a football stadium with 10-15 playing dates a year. That being said, what is the BEST overall use for the land? Many of the hotel features could be integrated into the new stadium.

I think the Saints will stay in NOLA for a long time, but one way of the other, it will mean a new Stadium somewhere. The problem is the area around the Dome is very limited for growth on two sides by freeways, and office buildings on the other two.

The long shot site (and a good alternative) would be to demolish the old Federal Building and Main Post Office and put the Stadium on the corner of Girod and Loyola, making it adjacent to the SKC on the south side. But that still requires moving two in-use buildings.

That could be the solution to not moving the team for 2 years to Tiger Stadium. And if's it's not on the river, just make it a simple modern covered stadium like Indy, with a movable roof for nice fall Sundays. Unless you have a large site, no need for a signature Billion $ JerryWorld.

Benson has already said he'll never put the Saints in Tiger Stadium again. Anyone who went to the Katrina games there knows it was a nightmare. Plus, i'm sure putting a new stadium where the Dome currently is would take up all or most of TWO seasons.

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Nice ideas but the state can't meet it's budget for years. Allocating money for a new stadium while higher ed and healthcare are going through big time cuts would not be very popular

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Well obviously the state would not be paying for it by themselves. The NFL has a fund that helps pay for new stadiums, PSLs ( ), corporate sponsorships, and it would not happen before 2026. The lease at the Superdome is through 2025 (IIRC) and it takes about about 7 years from the time the public first hears about a new stadium (prep work would have been going on for awhile before that) to the time it opens. Also the state is set to receive a higher % of oil and ng revenues in a couple of years and the next governor will have to address the budget situation in a more complete manor than Jindal has. I highly doubt that the state is still in fiscal trouble in 2026.

To the OP: a 70K retractable roof stadium would be badass just past the convention center. Everything you said about docking ships and the street car are all bad arse and would make for a hell of a gameday experience. They could tear down the superdome and build a new arena for the pels and a pro baseball stadium (I know I am dreaming) or a MLS stadium (I don't like the idea of a sport that at most is going to draw 30K playing in a 70K seat stadium) where the dome is now currently is.

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The problem is that the billionaire owners pass the buck down to the tax payers to subsidize renovations/new stadiums by threatening to leave the city. So no. I don't want a new stadium if the owners don't pony up ALL of the funds

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Really you don't think the state of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans have made back their money off the Superdome?

That stadium has hosted 7 Super Bowls (and probably one more before the current lease is up in 2025), tons big time college football games, several final fours, a Republican National Convention, Papal visit, Wrestlemania, and countless other conventions and tourist attractions. The city of New Orleans is one of the few cities in this country due to it being such a big tourist and convention destination that doesn't lose money building this stadiums. Especially if the planners have the foresight to build the next stadium large enough and flexible enough to accomodate the changing landscape of the sports business for the next 50 years.

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That stadium has hosted 7 Super Bowls (and probably one more before the current lease is up in 2025)

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Nope. The Superdome has hosted its last super Bowl. Probably its last NC, too.

Am I the only one that doesn't think the dome is anywhere near to old?

It's still incredible aesthetically pleasing, given it's setting. There's still a ton they could do to remodel the interior (adding a cowboy stadium like jumbo screen above midfield comes to mind)

And its not like it needs anymore seats. If anything, stadiums are starting to shift more towards that 69,000 figure.

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WeeWee, your points are all good, and while it may go that route, I'm really doubting that's how it will play out. I'm not as optimistic as you about the state's finances, especially with $46bbl oil.

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Oil will not stay at $46/bbl for the next decade, it ain't happening. The Saudi's can't withstand that and neither can the American producers, the Iranians, and Russiand. Production will be cut in the next 18 months and oil will be back to a min of $60 bl by this time 2 years from now ($60/bbl is what the state's budget is set on). All the governor candidates know they have to fix the budget problems and can not just balance the budget with one time money and cuts to education. We are in for a painful few years, but it will turn around and we have a decade before the Saints or Pels can even think about leaving.

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Then, I also doubt either Gayle or the 3 R's will be owning the team in 2025. As long as either of the parties own the Saints, NOLA will be OK. If a new non-local owner enters the picture, then all bets are off. They will demand a new stadium regardless of the state's financial situation. Or move the team.

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In 2025, the Superdome will be ~50 years old it will be time to put the ole gal out to pasture then anyway. I have not idea what the Benson's or 3R's fiscal situation will be by then but they will want a new stadium and the state will need one by then or a major renovation to superdome that costs over a 100 million.

I would think $2 billion would cover buiding a state of the art stadium and new NBA arena for the Pels (the SKC is bottom of the league now) by 2025.
The NFL's fund contributes an average of $200 million
Sell the naming rights for the NFL stadium 30year deal *$10 million/yr = $300 million
PSL= the NFL average is $50 million = $50 million
So that is $550 million paid for with non state money
Sell the Arena naming rights for 30 years * $5million/ yr = $150 million
So that is $700 million in private money off the top of my head.

That leave $1.3 billion the owners and the state have to come up with. The average NBA/team owner has contributed an average of $200 million for new arenas and the NFL an average of $400 million. That drops the state total down to $700 million. The current hotel tax contributes $34 million/yr to pay for the Superdome and SKC. Since the dome has had such a productive lifetime (50 years) and the SKC was built on the cheap, a large portion of the current tax values will be available for a new stadium. Right now the state pays $26 million/yr until 2039 to pay for the dome and SKC. That leave $8million/yr for 14 years free to replace the venues (and I am sure more money could be found by refinancing and applying it to the new stadium) that is 112 million and then the whole $34 million/yr for 16 years that is $544 million so ~$650 million from current tax funding sources.

So the state would have to come up ~$50million to have the best NBA arena and NFL stadium. That would be less than $2 million a year in new funding. That sounds like a hell of a bargain for what the Saints and Pels and having state of the art venues would bring to the state.

Disclaimer: Figures assumer similar debt structure as the Vikings, Failcounts and Sacramento Kings. A sticking point could be if the owners do not want to spend any of there money. Also feel free to check my math.

Links for figures:
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a 70K retractable roof stadium would be badass just past the convention center

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Or at Algiers Point. Take the ferry to the game. Urban renewal at it's finest.