NFL Governance and the Fate of the New Orleans Saints: Some Observations

Robert Baade () and Victor Matheson
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Robert Baade: Department of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College

No 703, Working Papers from College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics

Abstract: Prior to 2005, New Orleans had struggled to retain its NFL franchise. The Saints remained in the city, despite an outdated stadium and small media market, only through generous direct public subsidies to the team. Paradoxically, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 actually improved the short-term viability of the franchise by spurring an outpouring of local support for the team and by making relocation of the Saints politically untenable for the league. The long-term outlook for the team, however, appears grim. Already a small market, New Orleans’ population and business community has declined considerably due to Katrina. The NFL’s G-3 loan program for stadium construction is tapped out. Finally, the financial success of other NFL franchises has both raised the cost of fielding a competitive team and increased the value of the Saints as a target of relocation.

Keywords: sports; NFL Governance; New Orleans; Hurricane Katrina; football (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2007-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-spo and nep-ure
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Published in Governance and Competition in Professional Sports Leagues, Plácido Rodríguez Guerrero, Stefan Késenne, and Jaume García, eds. (Gijon, Spain: Universidad de Oviedo, 2007), pp. 141-168.

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Working Paper: NFL Governance and the Fate of the New Orleans Saints: Some Observations (2007)
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