NFL says Saints to remain Louisiana's team
Posted on: Sunday, 30 October 2005, 18:30 CST
BATON ROUGE (Reuters) - NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said on Sunday the New Orleans Saints should remain in Louisiana and try to find a broader fan base after the devastation of the football team's hometown by Hurricane Katrina.
"Our focus continues to be on having the Saints in Louisiana," said Tagliabue. He added, "We're trying to develop what we would regard as a new model for the Saints to operate in a rebuilt Louisiana."
Reports that Saints owner Tom Benson has considered moving the franchise to San Antonio, Texas, where it has played games this season, or the richer market of Los Angeles, have angered fans, many still shut out of their homes or businesses.
Tagliabue, who met on Sunday with Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, spoke to reporters in Baton Rouge, where he was attending the Saints first game in Louisiana since Katrina.
The risk of losing the Saints has united state politicians, with U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican, joining Democrats Nagin and Blanco in lobbying for the team to remain in Louisiana.
A vote of three-quarters of NFL owners is required to move a franchise, and Tagliabue dismissed reports of the Saints moving to Los Angeles as "nonsensical."
"Each team in the NFL is franchised to represent a specific community," he said. "The teams, the franchises are not free agents to run around the country and play wherever they want to play."
But Tagliabue said the Saints would have to find a way to appeal to all of Louisiana, not just New Orleans.
The city's population, which was 460,000 before the storm, has been sharply reduced. Nagin has said New Orleans could quickly rebuild to support 250,000 residents, but housing remains in short supply and some question that estimate.
The Saints home stadium, the Superdome, became the home to an estimated 25,000 evacuees from Katrina and sustained heavy damage. Repairs are underway, but Tagliabue said it was still uncertain whether the Saints would play there next season.
Source: REUTERS
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