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re: How close were the saints to moving to San Antonio?
Posted on 1/24/19 at 8:57 am to jj06
Posted on 1/24/19 at 8:57 am to jj06
quote:
TB wanted to move the team yet y’all have a patch for him lmao
Yep.
Never understood the love for Benson. Rita fixed his image after this fiasco. He tried to use Katrina as an excuse to leave. shite on TB.
This post was edited on 1/24/19 at 8:58 am
0
Posted on 1/24/19 at 9:05 am to Unknown_Poster
quote:
Mecom wanted to move them to Jacksonville prior to selling to Benson
This was circa 1981,1982
Posted on 1/24/19 at 9:22 am to coonass27
As a National Guardsmen that stayed in that Practice facility, some stuff went missing while we were there. Equipment wise......and a football.....from their first playoff win.....
Posted on 1/24/19 at 9:36 am to Hangover Haven
quote:
What..? First I’ve ever heard of that....
Yep, around 1984-85 Mecom was bleeding money due to the oil bust and the Saints wee something of a hobby for him. He was courted by Jacksonville who had a mostly unused stadium in the old Gator Bowl but also used to attract pretty fair sized crowds in the old WFL and USFL......It was the last thing the NFL wanted so they were sorting out local investors in NOLA for it.....If I remember correctly, Al Copeland even inquired as to how he could get in on it
Finally Tom Benson stepped in along with a group of locals to purchase the team
Posted on 1/24/19 at 10:10 am to KiwiHead
Benson always used a potential move as leverage with the State prior to Katrina, however i've heard from good sources that what really motivated him to want to move the team after Katrina was that he was not invited to a meeting of the elite of the New Orleans business community in Houston in the days after Katrina.
Sounds silly, but his feelings were hurt and it played into his motivations as he believed that he was more respected in San Antonio.
Sounds silly, but his feelings were hurt and it played into his motivations as he believed that he was more respected in San Antonio.
Posted on 1/24/19 at 10:28 am to KiwiHead
quote:
If I remember correctly, Al Copeland even inquired as to how he could get in on it
I was told by someone who should know that Ronnie Lamarque also looked into buying the Saints, but found out that he didn't have the resources that would have been required to make the purchase.
Posted on 1/24/19 at 11:06 am to coonass27
quote:
Benson had been flirting and wanting to move for a couple years. Lots of demands to be met or he would leave. He was pushing for a new stadium and more money from the state and when they bucked, he threatened to leave. Renovations were proposed to the dome and he still cried. About that and subsidites. He didn’t even want to pay a fraction of the renovation cost to the dome. The state passed some sort of plan to pay him more to keep the saints here but he was set on a new stadium. The talked failed and he wanted out. Katrina happened and that was his out and figured he could use that as the reason. Remember he claimed that the practice facilities were un useable and ruined after fema vacated them and told them they could return. Fema went on record as well as released videos of the facility in better shape than when they got there ever wonder why they played a lot of games that year in SA? Benson also owned a lot of property there.
In addition, how many people remember this from 2001?
quote:
June 20, 2001 - Associated Press
The state of Louisiana presented a new proposal to the Saints in an effort to keep the team in New Orleans.
In the plan presented to the Saints, the state made a commitment to build a new stadium, to be completed between 2009 and 2011, if the Saints continue to insist they need one.
The Saints say they cannot compete with NFL competitors in bigger and richer markets without state help, a conclusion the state's consultants have confirmed.
LINK
Posted on 1/24/19 at 11:12 am to KiwiHead
quote:Benson's amount out of pocket investment in the Saints in the '85 purchase was reportedly ~$5 million.
Finally Tom Benson stepped in along with a group of locals to purchase the team
His partners additional cumulative out of pocket amount totaled less than the $5 mil.
The rest (reportedly the total was ~$70 million) was leveraged.
Posted on 1/24/19 at 12:22 pm to jj06
quote:
TB wanted to move the team yet y’all have a patch for him lmao
His wife is the owner, it's not like the fans did that. Same goes for the statue. Benson almost got his arse kicked in Tiger Stadium post Katrina when he was trying to move the team. I think he quit going to games in Tiger Stadium after that.
Posted on 1/24/19 at 12:46 pm to LSULyle00690
Yep, if Benson has his way at that time the Saints would not even be in New Orleans right now. I grew up a diehard Saints fan all the way back in the Boddy Hebert days. But that whole fiasco with Benson back then was when I lost my emotional attachment to the team.
It’s just a business. I don’t get emotionally invested in how well Benson car dealerships are doing, so why should it matter to me how well the Saints are doing? It is the same thing essentially.
It’s just a business. I don’t get emotionally invested in how well Benson car dealerships are doing, so why should it matter to me how well the Saints are doing? It is the same thing essentially.
Posted on 1/24/19 at 1:15 pm to TigerNlc
quote:
Benson almost got his arse kicked in Tiger Stadium post Katrina when he was trying to move the team.
<———— Was there (vs Dolphins)
Was a surreal experience to witness. I’d been another suite and rode down the other elevator to get to ground level (and the angry crowd) at the same time as Benson & Taglibue.
It was not a pretty sight for those two. I was golden. Still am.
Posted on 1/24/19 at 8:26 pm to Napoleon
quote:
I thought for sure we lost the team
For a while, I was a little worried. But moving the team to San Antonio made very little sense, and I think the other owners thought that too.
If the Saints ever DO leave the state, Louisiana will never again have an NFL team. Too small a market.
This post was edited on 1/24/19 at 8:40 pm
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