Shiner Bock Girl
11-04-2005, 06:05 PM
Benson opposes return to New Orleans
Web Posted: 11/04/2005 12:00 AM CST
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/...on.254ddee.html
Tom Orsborn
Express-News Staff Writer
New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson remains deeply skeptical about the franchise's future in New Orleans, despite mounting pressure from the NFL to bring the team back to Louisiana for the 2006 season, sources close to the situation say.
The sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of discussions between the Saints and the NFL, describe Benson as outraged by the intervention of league commissioner Paul Tagliabue in the matter and hardened in his desire to explore relocation options, including San Antonio.
The sources say talks between the Saints and city officials toward that end continue and include a number of relocation incidentals, including office space for team officials.
The Saints, it was learned, have proposed leasing space in a San Antonio Water System-owned facility as an operations center, replacing the team's temporary setup in the Alamodome. Under consideration is the former Valero Energy Corp. headquarters building just north of downtown.
Meanwhile, Benson attorney Phil Wittmann said Thursday he would meet today with Louisiana Superdome officials to consider a proposal that would extend the late November deadline for the Saints to invoke a force majeure clause in their lease agreement for the state-owned facility.
The contract provides a 90-day period after a natural disaster damages the Superdome, in which the team can invoke the clause and void the lease without paying an $81 million exit fee. That period, triggered when Hurricane Katrina hammered the Gulf South and severely damaged the Superdome, is believed to expire Nov. 29.
The sources speculate the Saints may agree to extend the deadline until late December or possibly after this season to postpone a showdown that promises to provoke bitter reaction in Louisiana, where the team has three more games to play this season. The Saints' final game at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge is Dec. 16.
Benson, the sources say, still plans to invoke force majeure, if not by Nov. 29 then by before the new deadline. Some state and city leaders in the private and public sectors say they would welcome the move.
"The (New Orleans) economy is in shambles," State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said. "It's a matter of Mr. Benson making a sound business decision for himself and the NFL."
Tagliabue said Sunday before the Saints' 21-6 loss to the Miami Dolphins that Benson is "supportive" of the league's plan to return the Saints to Louisiana. But an e-mail Benson sent to Tagliabue on Sunday night suggests Benson would rather not play home games in Baton Rouge in 2006.
In the e-mail, obtained by The New Orleans Times-Picayune and WWL-TV in New Orleans, Benson called security at Tiger Stadium "inadequate (to) nonexistent" and said he and his family members "could have all been severely injured or killed."
Benson went on to say he would not return to Baton Rouge this season or a "contemplated" next season. A Saints spokesman said Thursday that Benson has not decided whether he would attend Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears at Tiger Stadium and that frustration caused him to send the e-mail.
Benson, who called his trip to Baton Rouge a "total disaster," was involved in an altercation with a WWL-TV camera crew and a fan as the owner and his family left the stadium after Sunday's game.
In the e-mail, Benson said: "... we were attacked by a number of hecklers who shouted obscenities at me and my party and put my wife and family in danger ... In addition, the media was forcing cameras in our faces and slowing down our escape from a very dangerous situation and experience."
Added Benson: "No person, much less the owner of an NFL team, should have either he, his family, or his friends subjected to this form of danger, intimidation, and abuse. We will not be back in Baton Rouge for any reason."
Attorney Larry Roedel, who represents the commission that operates the Superdome and will meet with Wittmann today, said Benson's frustration level likely stemmed from the outcome of Sunday's game.
"Many people say things in the heat of the moment that they would later prefer to take back after thinking through a difficult situation," Roedel said. "Mr. Benson's e-mail remarks about Baton Rouge fit in that category."
Web Posted: 11/04/2005 12:00 AM CST
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/...on.254ddee.html
Tom Orsborn
Express-News Staff Writer
New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson remains deeply skeptical about the franchise's future in New Orleans, despite mounting pressure from the NFL to bring the team back to Louisiana for the 2006 season, sources close to the situation say.
The sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of discussions between the Saints and the NFL, describe Benson as outraged by the intervention of league commissioner Paul Tagliabue in the matter and hardened in his desire to explore relocation options, including San Antonio.
The sources say talks between the Saints and city officials toward that end continue and include a number of relocation incidentals, including office space for team officials.
The Saints, it was learned, have proposed leasing space in a San Antonio Water System-owned facility as an operations center, replacing the team's temporary setup in the Alamodome. Under consideration is the former Valero Energy Corp. headquarters building just north of downtown.
Meanwhile, Benson attorney Phil Wittmann said Thursday he would meet today with Louisiana Superdome officials to consider a proposal that would extend the late November deadline for the Saints to invoke a force majeure clause in their lease agreement for the state-owned facility.
The contract provides a 90-day period after a natural disaster damages the Superdome, in which the team can invoke the clause and void the lease without paying an $81 million exit fee. That period, triggered when Hurricane Katrina hammered the Gulf South and severely damaged the Superdome, is believed to expire Nov. 29.
The sources speculate the Saints may agree to extend the deadline until late December or possibly after this season to postpone a showdown that promises to provoke bitter reaction in Louisiana, where the team has three more games to play this season. The Saints' final game at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge is Dec. 16.
Benson, the sources say, still plans to invoke force majeure, if not by Nov. 29 then by before the new deadline. Some state and city leaders in the private and public sectors say they would welcome the move.
"The (New Orleans) economy is in shambles," State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said. "It's a matter of Mr. Benson making a sound business decision for himself and the NFL."
Tagliabue said Sunday before the Saints' 21-6 loss to the Miami Dolphins that Benson is "supportive" of the league's plan to return the Saints to Louisiana. But an e-mail Benson sent to Tagliabue on Sunday night suggests Benson would rather not play home games in Baton Rouge in 2006.
In the e-mail, obtained by The New Orleans Times-Picayune and WWL-TV in New Orleans, Benson called security at Tiger Stadium "inadequate (to) nonexistent" and said he and his family members "could have all been severely injured or killed."
Benson went on to say he would not return to Baton Rouge this season or a "contemplated" next season. A Saints spokesman said Thursday that Benson has not decided whether he would attend Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears at Tiger Stadium and that frustration caused him to send the e-mail.
Benson, who called his trip to Baton Rouge a "total disaster," was involved in an altercation with a WWL-TV camera crew and a fan as the owner and his family left the stadium after Sunday's game.
In the e-mail, Benson said: "... we were attacked by a number of hecklers who shouted obscenities at me and my party and put my wife and family in danger ... In addition, the media was forcing cameras in our faces and slowing down our escape from a very dangerous situation and experience."
Added Benson: "No person, much less the owner of an NFL team, should have either he, his family, or his friends subjected to this form of danger, intimidation, and abuse. We will not be back in Baton Rouge for any reason."
Attorney Larry Roedel, who represents the commission that operates the Superdome and will meet with Wittmann today, said Benson's frustration level likely stemmed from the outcome of Sunday's game.
"Many people say things in the heat of the moment that they would later prefer to take back after thinking through a difficult situation," Roedel said. "Mr. Benson's e-mail remarks about Baton Rouge fit in that category."