Saints' New Deal Leaves Questions

Two things have haunted residents of Louisiana since the state began to return to normalcy after Hurricane Katrina: 1) What happens when (not if) the next big one hits?, and 2) Will the Saints and the state ever come to a long-term agreement? The first question is more pressing and widespread than the second, but not by as wide of a margin as you may believe.

While the local and federal governments ashamedly haven't done enough work to at least quell concerns about future disaster preparation, the state of the Saints finally seems close to resolution, as the team and Louisiana have come to an agreement that will keep the Saints in place through 2025. Aspects of the agreement still have to pass through legislation, but though there will be resistance the deal should get pushed through. Still, the deal depends on other factors for it to be a success.

First, the pertinent details:

-- The state's annual subsidy payments to the team will be reduced to no more than $6 million annually (the state owes the team $23 million this year alone).

-- In turn, the state would provide $85 million for improvements to the Superdome, which will include: adding 3,100 new seats; building more luxury boxes; widening the concourse; and adding new concessions, stores and restaurants.

-- Saints owner Tom Benson will buy real estate around the stadium and lease it back to state agencies in an attempt to improve the area and create a sports district around the stadium that will make trips to the downtown region a complete, appealing experience for people and their disposable income.


In the end, the onus of profitability now falls on the Saints; they now have to sustain themselves in lieu of receiving support from the state. They've done well enough in selling out two consecutive seasons, but this means that the team has to continue to provide an appealing (i.e. successful) product, as a winning team not only draws more cash at the gate and concession stands but also benefits greatly from additional playoff revenue.

This is where the cynics can begin to pipe in.

Creating an appealing, successful product has not been the team's strong point in its 40-plus years of existence. Despite fielding a team that appeared in the NFC Championship game in 2006 and one of the league's most exciting offenses over the last three years, the jury is still out on whether the Saints can be successful with longevity.

There are positive signs everywhere -- Benson's new-found commitment to investing in the quality of the team (and some sea changes in football operations) make the Saints appear like a legitimately top-notch franchise -- but two consecutive non-playoff seasons have brought a flicker of doubt back. Personally, I do believe the team is headed towards the playoffs in 2009 and beyond, but I'm a Saints fan, and I've said that every year for as far back as I can remember. Not exactly compelling testimonial, so caveat emptor.

Then there's the more troubling (to me) aspect of the agreement, and the one which will cause the most debate as it passes through legislation -- the $85 million the state will pay the Saints to renovate the Superdome.

Make no mistake, the Superdome needs to be renovated if it's going to continue to house the team, the stadium is among the nation's most archaic homes in all of professional sports. Coupled with the $219 million already spent on upgrades, the new renovations in the plan are expected to thoroughly modernize the stadium.

But that money is going to come severely at the expense of state education, taking up 10.2 percent of a $865.7 state surplus that is being budgeted out. While the surplus (which has about $70 million currently unspent, if the stadium legislation passes) will be spent on much-needed causes, including coastal protection, highways and needs at state colleges and universities, it has nothing dedicated to its public schools, which have long dwelled well below the national average in just about every category including expenditure, teacher salary and, most damning, graduation rate. You'd be hard-pressed to argue that any state's priority should be football over education, especially a state with as pitiful an education system as Louisiana's.

But you have to spend money to make money, right? And this deal does have the potential to make New Orleans and the state some significant revenue. If the Saints get the 2013 Super Bowl, which was predicated on them reaching this agreement but seems like a lock now, estimates expect a $500 million economic impact on the area from that event alone. The annual subsidy savings are a big deal, and the team brings obvious financial benefits in terms of employment and spurring tourism. For an area that needs revenue of any sort in a desperate way, keeping the Saints in town is a major win.

So in the end, the true measure of this deal will be determined not on its face, but on the dominoes it sets off. In other words, it's a start. But if the agreement produces as much of an economic windfall as all of the smiling faces seen in photo opps would predict, then the success of this deal is ultimately predicated on how that revenue is spent. Louisiana is in terrible shape in a number of ways, and losing the Saints would have been a practical death knell for future recovery, but keeping the team in place alone will not turn the state around. The state's state will only be turned around if the team and legislation decide to take onus for turning it around by ending a cycle of corruption and poor leadership, by putting their money where their mouth is and making a serious and responsible investment into one of the nation's most amazing cities and a state far from maximizing its potential.

Otherwise, the Saints and their gold uniforms will continue to merely be a shiny Sunday diversion from the severe tarnish that surrounds them.