NFL Saints will return to New Orleans, owner says

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – The New Orleans Saints football
team will return to New Orleans and plans to play all its 2006
home games in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina forced a move
to San Antonio this year, team owner Tom Benson said on Friday.

He told reporters “the entire Saints organization” would go
back to the city after the team’s final 2005 game this Sunday
against Tampa Bay in Florida.

Benson’s announcement ended speculation for now that he
would keep the Saints permanently in San Antonio, where he has
a home and several businesses. But neither he nor the National
Football League has committed to keeping the Saints in New
Orleans beyond 2006.

The Saints’ home stadium, the Superdome, was badly damaged
in the August 29 storm and the chaotic aftermath when thousands
of people took refuge in the stadium to escape rising flood
waters.

Officials have said the Superdome should be ready for use
next fall, perhaps as early as mid-September, or shortly after
the start of the season.

The Saints lived and practiced in San Antonio and played
three games in the city’s Alamodome this fall. They played four
games in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70 miles from New Orleans and
the rest on the road.