Venue Detail
New Orleans Saints
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
February, 2012
New Orleans Saints
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6928 Saints Dr Metairie, LA 70003-5187 Phone: 504-733-0255 Fax: 504-733-5734 URL: www.neworleanssaints.com Owner: Tom Benson League: National Football League, NFC South
Venue
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, 1 Sugar Bowl Dr, New Orleans, LA 70112-1261 Owner: State of Louisiana Managed by: SMG Facility Management Built: 1975 Capacity: 72,000 Permanent concession stands: 24 Concessionaire: Centerplate Suite caterer: Centerplate Soft drink:
Naming rights
Sold to: Mercedes-Benz Price: $60,000,000 Term: 10 years Expires: 2021
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $250 to $2,980 Single tickets range from $24.00 to $185.00
Attendance
2009 average attendance: 70,105 2010 average attendance: 70,038 2011 average attendance: 73,042
Suites
Quantity: 137 Term: 1 to 5 years Price: $90,000 to $150,000 Seats: 16 to 38 Includes: Does not include tickets.
Club seats
Quantity: 15,000 Term: 1 to 1 years Price: $630 to $700 Includes: Tickets, access to club room for pre-game buffet.
Financing
The $134 million domed stadium was publicly financed through a four percent hotel tax.
Hurricane Katrina battered the Superdome, but it was unable to destroy the stadium which survived the ordeal. The building served as a storm shelter and as temporary home to those whose homes were destroyed by the storm and flooding.
The damage to the building took until late 2006 to repair, leaving the Saints to play their 2005 season in San Antonio and at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
The Saints and state officials reached an agreement in 2007 that will keep the NFL team in the Superdome for another four years. In 2009, a longer-term deal was reached.
Louisiana taxpayers could save up to $281 million under a new deal. The plan calls for the state would to make $85 million in improvements to the Dome, and Saints owner Tom Benson and his family would buy the vacant Dominion Tower and New Orleans Centre and lease office space back to the state.
The deal also would create a new sports district, increase the potential for stadium revenue and shift more of the financial burden on the Saints by eliminating fixed payments and reducing subsidies based on the team's financial performance.
The savings come by releasing the state from a previous agreement that paid the team to delay talks about a new stadium and remain in New Orleans. That 10-year deal would have cost the state a total of $186 million – money the state has struggled to pay in recent years.
The upgrades include the substantially widening plaza level concourses, adding concession stands, reconfiguring lower bowl seating to add 3,100 seats, and adding 300-level luxury boxes, a new retail store, a club lounge and upgraded restaurants. The moves, along with the lease, allows the team to earn more revenues.
The new revenue streams would reduce the state's financial obligation to the Saints based on a sliding scale, with the most the team could receive in a year capped at $6 million if the team generates less than $7 million in new game-day revenue. The state's payment drops to zero if the Saints generate at least $12.5 million in new revenue. A naming rights sale in 2011 reportedly will eliminate state subsidies. The $60 million price tag was reported, but not confirmed.
Through the deal with the Saints, the Superdome Commission is seeking to develop real estate around the 34-year-old dome into a sports and entertainment district that will secure the city's future as a destination for major national athletic events.
The commission had its eye mostly on the mall and the garage, which it wanted to convert into an entertainment district that might one day rival Patriot Place in Boston or L.A. Live in Los Angeles. It would have paid for the buildings by leasing portions of the Dominion Tower to state agencies that had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
The Benson family also bought the mall and the parking garage and then lease those back to the Superdome Commission, a state agency, which will operate them on game days. The commission and the Bensons will share profit from the property, which will be recast into what they called a “festival plaza.” (Facilities, Financial, Football, NFLNFL, Professional Sports)