Now this is a tough look for the New Orleans Saints. Between the Saints’ 17-game regular season and the Pelicans’ 82-game schedule, just two of the matchups played by Gayle Benson’s teams will be featured in prime time. And they’re both NBA games. The Pelicans will compete in front of a national audience in games with the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 8, and Jan. 30 against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Saints won’t play in prime time for the first time since the year 2000.
Who’s to blame for this? Saints general manager Mickey Loomis hasn’t been involved with the Pelicans in years, but many of the same executives work with both teams. Dennis Lauscha serves as team president with both the Saints and Pelicans. Greg Bensel is the senior vice president of communications and broadcasting for each team. All of the other senior vice presidents in the Pelicans’ front office hold the same titles with the Saints: Ben Hales (chief operating officer), David Chaix (chief financial officer), Vicky Neumeyer (general counsel), Greg Rouchell (human resources), and Michael Stanfield (sales), as well as Ed Lang, senior financial advisor to Gayle Benson.
Sure, things have been changing in New Orleans to varying degrees. The Saints overhauled their coaching and training staffs. Joe Dumars was hired as the Pelicans’ new executive vice president of basketball operations, replacing David Griffin as a counterpart for Loomis. But they’re still coached by Willie Green, whose .451 career record doesn’t inspire much confidence.
And at the end of the day, the national spotlight is drawn to star power. And neither team has much of it these days. Zion Williamson’s career so far has been defined by unfulfilled potential and his supporting cast has been disassembled (CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram ranked second and fourth in scoring last year, but have since been traded). Almost all of the Saints players whose jerseys fans wear on Sundays (like Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis, Taysom Hill, or Alvin Kamara) are 30 or older. For the first time in a generation there isn’t a sure thing at quarterback in New Orleans. All of those executives pulling double-duty have built two teams that few people outside the team’s home market want to watch. A fanbase that led the NFL in local viewership during the preseason deserves better.
It’s bleak. Something needs to change. Whether it’s more widespread turnover for the Pelicans or a full commitment to a rebuild with the Saints, things aren’t sustainable right now. They’re disappointing at best. Maybe some time out of the spotlight to regroup, refocus, and retool for the future is just what Benson’s two teams need.