ESPN’s Chris Mortensen has reported that the Saints have probably played their last game in New Orleans. The city is seen as a struggling small market and there were talks of the Saints moving even before Hurricane Katrina. The Saints will probably play next season in San Antonio with a possible move to Los Angeles on the horizon.
Since the Rams and Raiders left, the NFL has been dying to put a franchise in the country’s second biggest market, but the city wasn’t able to get its act together in recent years and lost out to Houston for the league’s 32nd (and possibly final) team. Now the city is the first to be mentioned whenever a franchise is thought to be moving. As a SoCal resident (living in Orange County), I’d like to see a team relocate either to Anaheim or to a site somewhere along the LA County and Orange County border. It’s a sad situation, but given all the other entertainment possibilities in the area, I think residents of both counties need to have access to the team in order for the NFL to thrive in Southern California. And they need to do what the Browns did when they moved to Baltimore – change their nickname. Somehow, the LA Saints doesn’t sound quite right, unless you’re trying to be ironic.
As a fellow OCer and a three year-old Saints fan, I say put them in Anaheim. The likelihood of a team in the LA/OC area seems doubtful, but there’s always hope.
I think it’s just a matter of time before a team wants to move and Anaheim/LA gets their act together. It is in the best interest of the league to have a team in SoCal.
Hate to see any team move but if Benson had a move in mind before Katrina hit he must be on the phone all day and night trying to strike a deal now! The question is whether SoCal would support a team?
Two teams were too many, but I think we could support one team, especially if they make the stadium somewhat accessible from both LA and Orange counties. This is quite sad, considering that my team – the Packers – are sold out through the end of time despite being in the league’s smallest market, but it is what it is.
It’s gonna be just like Major League Baseball layin’ the heavy hand on Houston with the roof bein’ open – Los Angeles is too big a prize for the NFL, and the Chargers don’t want to move, so no matter what nice things Tagliabue says now about tryin’ to help New Orleans, he’ll force the Saints to move. The Saints only hope to stay in New Orleans is if they can’t get the 75% vote from the other owners for the move.