The city of New Orleans has entered some dark days for its professional sports teams.

The New Orleans Saints are 1-8 and arguably the worst team in the entire NFL. The Pelicans have gotten off to an 0-6 start to the year in the NBA after finishing last season with an abysmal 21-61 record. Neither team shows any signs of change, despite plenty of outcry from fans and even players showing their frustrations.

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Lots of professional sports teams have bad years — some, more often than not — but for two teams that literally play next door to each other to both have the same struggles for the same amount of time is absurd. It’s a sign of an overarching problem that goes far beyond the players and coaches.

In this scenario, the problem starts at the top with owner Gayle Benson. While she was just recently named the Most Powerful Woman in Sports by Forbes, it’s easy to see that this title was determined by the wealth that comes from singlehandedly owning two professional sports franchises rather than by successful business decisions that have translated to in-game results.

Benson inherited both organizations following the death of her husband, renowned businessman Tom Benson. While, by many accounts, she’s a gentle and philanthropic lady who gives back to the city, both teams have taken a downward spiral since she took over. Benson’s business decisions have ultimately done more harm than good, and that starts with the front office staff that she works alongside.

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis took over that position in 2002. He had quite a few glory years with head coach Sean Payton and future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees, but since then, he’s let things get out of hand.

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Wasted draft picks. Bad hires. Trades that haven’t panned out. All of these problems that the Black and Gold have dealt with time and time again over the past few years largely go back to Loomis, with Benson at his side.

Unfortunately for Saints fans, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight: the two franchise leaders have a strong friendship, and regardless of how much the ship is sinking, it doesn’t look like Benson has any plans to part with her treasured GM. Meanwhile, under their leadership, the Black and Gold has little direction and appears to be many years away from being playoff contenders. The team will only continue to slip further as this leadership continues.

The Pelicans are having the same issues. While Benson did make the decision to ultimately fire former executive vice president David Griffin following his struggles, she replaced him with someone who is looking worse so far.

Joe Dumars was brought on as the Pels’ executive VP following the 2024-2025 season, with very little effort put into the decision. He instantly made some questionable moves. First, Dumars chose to retain head coach Willie Green despite years of the same problems under him without any adjustments. Green has already let things slip to start the year, and players are reportedly unhappy. There’s speculation that he could be fired any day, but Dumars has yet to make that call.

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Second, Dumars traded away 2026 draft picks to move up in the 2025 NBA Draft and select Derik Queen: a player who has had very limited production through the first six games. Now, the Pelicans don’t have a pick in next year’s draft, which is expected to be loaded with talent, and they’ll have to spend another year “rebuilding.”

There’s another layer to this leadership issue: if Benson decides to sell both organizations, who would buy them? The odds of somewhat-local ownership seem a bit slim at this point, and if someone from another part of the country would be willing to take a chance on the franchises, will they be moved out of New Orleans?

Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be many solutions at this point, and there’s no telling when things will turn back around. Right now, it’s nothing more than a waiting game.