Saints Owner Threatens to move to LA

[robbman21]

A member here....BRYWHITE....has in his signature the concept painting of the "new" Superdome,which I was under the impression they had already commissioned to build.I had posted asking him about it but got no reply.Maybe he'd like to fill us in now?

[jkrdevil]

Well, Technically the Saints all ready play in LA. They play Louisiana whose abbreviation is LA.

[Saintsfan]

Well I dunno, seems like Nawlins needs to get behind the team or lose it. L.A. has been looking for a team for a while. New Orleans has been talking about moving. Seems a reasonable fit.

[zer0dotcom]

168 million to renovate the stadium? and thats all he wants? and he's been paid 81 million in the past four years? geez, he's not asking for much eh? ugh, must be nice to be in a position where you can start demanding someone to spend 168 million dollars for your benefit

[NJTank]

Yeah I think moving to LA will be good for the Saints.

[yh]

Setting a deadline less than 90 days away and conveniently during the week when NFL owners will meet suggests to me that this might already be a done deal.

In that case, I foresee the Rams and Saints swapping divisions which probably makes a bit of sense when you look at it. The Saints and 49ers are rivals from the old NFC West and it wouldn't be hard to develop LA-Arizona and LA-Seattle rivalries as well. As for the Rams, Atlanta and Carolina are old intradivisional foes from the old NFC West and the Rams and Bucs have had a bit of a rivalry since the 99 playoffs.

What would be interesting is whether the name and logo would remain. Saints would certainly make sense as far as a nickname goes, however the fleur de lis logo which has defined this franchise since day 1 is so inexorably tied to the city of New Orleans that I would have to think a new graphical identity would need to be developed.

Ordinarily, I'm as skeptical as the next guy, but the timing on this seems too logical to me and I have a feeling the Saints are on the line with Mayflower as we speak.

[JamesCraven]

Today (11/28/04), Foxsports.com confirmed that the Saints have the moving vans ready for a possible move to the land of the Smogberry Trees. It also reports that the state of Indiana and the city of Indianapolis will build a new retractable-roof field for the Colts.

[TFoA]

Today (11/28/04), Foxsports.com confirmed that the Saints have the moving vans ready for a possible move to the land of the Smogberry Trees. It also reports that the state of Indiana and the city of Indianapolis will build a new retractable-roof field for the Colts.

I'm in the mood to laugh at ANY joke, because the Falcons {are going to} win tha freakin division soon.

[JamesCraven]

"I'm in the mood to laugh at ANY joke, because the Falcons {are going to} win tha freakin' division soon."

I was telling the truth.

[Nick 1733]

Today (11/28/04), Foxsports.com confirmed that the Saints have the moving vans ready for a possible move to the land of the Smogberry Trees.  It also reports that the state of Indiana and the city of Indianapolis will build a new retractable-roof field for the Colts.

I'm in the mood to laugh at ANY joke, because the Falcons {are going to} win tha freakin division soon.

Agreed, still not a Falcons fan though.

[TFoA]

I say that because Indianapolis is another one of those teams that threaten stuff, but don't get it without sneaky tomfoolery i.e. 1983 moving incident. BTW, got a link?

[Cyclopsis Joe]

I say that because Indianapolis is another one of those teams that threaten stuff, but don't get it without sneaky tomfoolery i.e. 1983 moving incident. BTW, got a link?

We Falcons fans won't miss the N'orleans Saints..we just stomp them every year.

[NJTank]

If the Saints move to LA should the Rams move to the South Division?

[DEAD!]

If the Saints move to LA should the Rams move to the South Division?

That seems to be the only logical choice unless for some bizzare reason the Cowboys would want to move into that division. If the Colts are in the AFC South, then the Rams in the NFC South would not be too much of a stretch.

[Nick 1733]

If the Saints move to LA should the Rams move to the South Division?

That seems to be the only logical choice unless for some bizzare reason the Cowboys would want to move into that division. If the Colts are in the AFC South, then the Rams in the NFC South would not be too much of a stretch.

Yes, Dallas needs to be in the South or West and Indianapolis does not belong in the SOUTH for being in the northern part of the country.

[clyon81]

1-If Dallas can be East, then Los Angeles can still be "south"....

2-Or maybe swap the colts and "saints" in conferences, returning baltimore, er indianapolis to their rightful place, move them into the void in the south, move kansas city into the afc south, and put los angeles in the afc west.

only the following divisions would change....

NFC South - Indianapolis, Atlanta, Carolina, Tampa Bay

AFC South - Kansas City, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Houston

AFC West - Denver, Oakland, San Diego, "Los Angeles"

I think idea "1" would be easier, but manning vs vick 2 times a year sounds nice too

[Magus]

move them to mississippi, so they can be the Mississippi Rebels or (cover your politically correct eyes for this shocking and disturbing idea) Mississippi Confederates and the logo can be this: .

i realize tolerant and sensitive liberals will probably send me PM bombs for this . what don't like freedom of speech?

[DEAD!]

move them to mississippi, so they can be the Mississippi Rebels or (cover your politically correct eyes for this shocking and disturbing idea) Mississippi Confederates and the logo can be this: .   

i realize tolerant and sensitive liberals will probably send me PM bombs for this .  what don't like freedom of speech?

I'm a liberal (maybe a bit more centralist), but I got a good laugh about this one. This logo will make the Buccaneers look very weak.

EDIT: You know, the Los Angeles Saints have a nice ring to it.

[PHI]

Considering how fast the NFL jumps at opportunities to re-align divisions, I'd say the L.A. Saints (if this does happen) would remain in the NFC South for at least a decade or so. Besides, the NFL proved with the last re-alignment that they are not overly concerned with being geographically correct.

More to the original topic, I'd be OK with the Saints moving to L.A. The NFL has stated that there will be a team in L.A. by 2008 (I believe) either through a team moving or expansion. I would much prefer a team move there than to have another expansion. Thirty-two teams is plenty for a good while in my opinion. No need to go overboard and then have to consider retraction later on.

[Brian in Boston]

IF the Saints were to move to Los Angeles, I've got to believe that we'd see the team swap divisions with the St. Louis Rams. The Los Angeles-based team (whatever it ends up being called) would join Arizona, San Francisco and Seattle in the NFC West. Meanwhile, St. Louis would join Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay in the NFC South.

That said, I'm not buying that the Saints' move to Los Angeles is a done deal. I expect that when all is said and done, the return of the NFL to Los Angeles will be accomplished with an expansion franchise being granted to the city. In my opinion, the second-most likely scenario for LA getting back into the NFL would be through the move of the Chargers from San Diego. A move of the Saints to Los Angeles strikes me as being no more than the third-most likely scenario. As for Indianapolis and Minnesota, I see the Colts getting a new stadium and the Vikings getting a new owner... with neither team moving to LA.