The New Orleans Saints are in talks with Louisiana State University to move future home games to Baton Rouge. Saints Senior Vice President of Communications Greg Bensel sent the following statement regarding the discussions: “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.”The Saints have not been able to host fans in the Dome for home games this season due to coronavirus restrictions in the City of New Orleans. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has released a three-tier plan to phase three restrictions in New Orleans. Cantrell said that the Dome capacity is not part of the phase 3 plan, because the capacity of the Dome is upwards of 20,000 people.For the last two home games Cantrell has only allowed 750 family and close friends to players inside the Dome. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell emailed Cantrell a few weeks ago regarding getting fans back into the stands. At the time of the email, Cantrell had not responded to Goodell, but did say she was in constant communication with Saints and state officials, but the priority is on businesses that contribute daily to the community, such as restaurants and the hospitality industry.’The City of New Orleans issued the following statement regarding the Saints talks with LSU: “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 city is expected to announce moving into phase 3.2 on Thursday. The Saints have a bye week and are expected to have their next home game on Sunday Oct. 25 against the Carolina Panthers.
NEW ORLEANS —
The New Orleans Saints are in talks with Louisiana State University to move future home games to Baton Rouge.
Saints Senior Vice President of Communications Greg Bensel sent the following statement regarding the discussions:
“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.”
The Saints have not been able to host fans in the Dome for home games this season due to coronavirus restrictions in the City of New Orleans.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has released a three-tier plan to phase three restrictions in New Orleans.
Cantrell said that the Dome capacity is not part of the phase 3 plan, because the capacity of the Dome is upwards of 20,000 people.
For the last two home games Cantrell has only allowed 750 family and close friends to players inside the Dome.
At the time of the email, Cantrell had not responded to Goodell, but did say she was in constant communication with Saints and state officials, but the priority is on businesses that contribute daily to the community, such as restaurants and the hospitality industry.’
The City of New Orleans issued the following statement regarding the Saints talks with LSU:
“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 city is expected to announce moving into phase 3.2 on Thursday.
The Saints have a bye week and are expected to have their next home game on Sunday Oct. 25 against the Carolina Panthers.
