The aftermath of the Super Bowl victory by the New Orleans Saints was a delightfully amusing experience for me. Not because of Saints improbable triumph on the field, but the stupefyingly revisionist reporting about team owner Tom Benson.
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, and I’m happy to report that Benson is back to his old ways, using the goodwill of the Super Bowl victory as cover to blow out 1,200 longtime Saints season seat holders in favor of luxury suites. Oh yeah, and he’s also raising ticket prices. Again.
Natahan Riemer has been a life long Saints fan and a season ticket holder for the last 10 years, but he just found out his coveted seat inside the Superdome won’t be there this season.
“It’s the Claiborne side last full row of the dome on the 50-yard line, Saints sideline, it’s right up there,” said Riemer.
“I wanted to cry,” he said after learning he was losing his tickets. “I was extremely upset.”
On Thursday, Saints Box Office employees began calling close to 1,200 season ticket holders to let them know their seats are disappearing in order to make room for a new press box. The old press box is being replaced with 16 new suites.
It was one of the greatest feelings in my life,” said Riemer, “and then today I find out that I might not be able to see the banner drop that Thursday first game of the year.”
Take heart Mr. Riemer, as the benevolent Benson will tell you, the season ticket waiting list is only 50,000 deep, meaning you’ll be back just in time to catch the Saints’ next Super Bowl victory.
9:47 am on March 20th, 2010
Packers raised their season ticket prices too. Bensons a dick, but everyones doing it. Wait until the new CBA goes into effect. I shudder to think!
9:57 am on March 20th, 2010
The saints still have the cheepest season tickets available of any franchise. Also, he’s beeing relocated not kicked out of the stadium.
10:46 am on March 20th, 2010
An owner who just won a championship is raising ticket prices?? That never happens!
The sad truth is that without luxury boxes, there is no way that team would be able to stay in NO. The average fan has to realize that owners and a commisioners don’t give a damn about them. They don’t matter and will continue to get the shaft.
4:30 pm on March 20th, 2010
Benson is trash, nobody in N.O. trusts him. Tagliabue/Goodell were the true drivers of keeping the team in the city by telling Benson that’s how it was going to be…Higher ticket prices is fine. They’re still VERY cheap relative to the league, and they did the right thing back in ‘05 by slashing prices after the storm. Raising them back up a little 5 years later is fine and fair.
Displacing 1,200 ticket holders is not ideal, but it’s life. And things would be MUCH more drastic if they ever built another stadium w/more higher priced seats. The Superdome offers a lot in terms of affordable seating for the average fan, we can’t whine too much.
1:16 pm on April 1st, 2010
It was known last spring that these seats would be gone. The agreement between the Saints & Louisiana called for $85 million dollars in upgrades to be done during the summer of 2010 & 2011. They specifically stated that the press box was to be moved to the terrace. This agreement was made in April of 2009.
http://www.superdome.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=72&Itemid=71