Should the New Orleans Saints Temporarily Move to Shreveport Following Ida?
Due to the devastation and destruction left by Hurricane Ida over the weekend, the New Orleans Saints will once again be without a home. At least temporarily. According to NFL.com, the Saints will be forced to move away from New Orleans for at least the first 4 weeks of the season.
At this moment, there's no word on where the Saints will play. It's rumored that they will practice at SMU or Texas Christian University. While Jerry Jones has offered up AT&T Stadium, there's several schedule conflicts with concerts. So, where will the Saints end up playing ball for the next month?
While the league and everyone is scrambling around and trying to find a solution, I think I already have one: MOVE THEM TO SHREVEPORT. Independence Stadium is rarely in use, we know it can be used for national television broadcasts because ESPN uses it every year for the Indy Bowl...I mean, it has everything you need in a stadium if you're a pro football team.
Now, is Independence Stadium as luxurious as the Super Dome in New Orleans or Jerry World in Dallas? Absolutely not. It's a dump by comparison. But, given the circumstances, Independence Stadium is an easy solution. It can hold 63,000 people plus. There's plenty of places for vendors and merch where the Saints could move in and not lose that much money. And they don't have to worry about scheduling conflicts. Outside of the occasional High School Football game, Independence Stadium is pretty much free and clear for the next month or so.
And for us here in Shreveport, it would be a great economic opportunity to bring tourism into town and that Louisiana is more than just what's south of I-10. Now, I know as soon as this goes onto Facebook, there's going to be a bunch of people complaining that Shreveport is a dump and the Saints will all get shot and blah blah blah. A) New Orleans has a higher crime rate. B) Shreveport isn't that bad if you just quit complaining about everything. C) A little national spotlight would be good for everyone.
Now, is anything that I mentioned above likely to happen? Probably not. But, I do think that if I were Mayor Perkins, I'd be on the phone with the Saints organization at least making the offer. You never know...they may just say yes. And not only would that be a win for you, but the city. And you'd be responsible for keeping the Saints in Louisiana instead of them having to move out of state for a month plus.