An empty Superdome is not good for business. And, the Saints have let the city of New Orleans know that in no uncertain terms, Tuesday.
Saints spokesman Greg Bensel confirmed to WGNO Sports that the club is in discussions with LSU about moving home games to Tiger Stadium. The first three Saints home games at the Superdome have been played with little or no fans.
A source at LSU said the Saints first reached out to LSU last week. “The Saints have helped us in the past, and we are here to help them,” said the source.
The Saints released a statement Tuesday.
We can confirm that our game operations staff is meeting with LSU officials today to discuss potentially hosting future Saints home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. LSU has been gracious and enthusiastic regarding hosting our future games and we very much appreciate their partnership. We have also discussed the possibility of moving our home games to LSU with the NFL and they are aware of our exploring this option. Obviously, our overwhelming preference is to play our games in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with partial fan attendance but there has been no indication from the city on when, or if, this might be approved.
Greg Bensel
Senior Vice President of Communications/Broadcasting New Orleans Saints
The City of New Orleans also released a statement Tuesday. Beau Tidwell, Director of Communications:
“While the Saints’ request for a special exception to the city’s Covid-19 guidelines remains under consideration, allowing 20K people in an indoor space presents significant public health concerns. At present, no NFL stadium in the country with a fixed-roof facility is allowing such an exception. We will continue to monitor the public health data, but cannot set an artificial timeline for how and when conditions may allow for the kind of special exemption being requested.”
The Saints played four home games at Tiger Stadium in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans lost all four games.
The Saints would be held to the 25 percent attendance threshold currently in place for LSU games.
The next Saints home game is against Carolina, October 25th.
Former LSU passing game coordinator Joe Brady, now the Panthers’ offensive coordinator, may be returning to Tiger Stadium much sooner than he ever believed.
