The Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District board voted Wednesday to give its chairperson the authority to sign a new lease for the Caesars Superdome with the New Orleans Saints, a procedural step that may set the stage for the landmark agreement more than 18 months in the making.
The Superdome lease itself has been ready for days, negotiators say. It runs for 10 years and gives the Saints the option to extend every five years through 2055, a deal meant to secure the team’s future in New Orleans for a generation. But as of midweek, nothing has been signed because of a sticking point familiar to anyone who has tracked the team’s history with the state: real estate.
The two sides have been deadlocked over how to handle leases for Benson Tower, Champions Square and the Saints’ practice complex in Jefferson Parish. The team insists those agreements, worth millions annually, be finalized alongside the stadium contract. The state wants to separate them and move the Dome lease forward first.
However, negotiators said Wednesday that they believe the issues will be resolved within a few days.
The Caesars Dome and Benson Tower in New Orleans, Thursday, July 22, 2021. A side deal with the state over the tower has been a sticking point in talks over a new stadium lease agreement for the Saints. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
The LSED, known as the Superdome Commission, wanted to authorize Chairperson Robert Vosbein to sign so that another board meeting won’t have to be convened before the next scheduled one in October, at which the full seven-member board would be expected to ratify the new stadium lease deal.
The vote Wednesday was unanimous from the six commissioners in attendance.
“We are getting very close and I think the deal will be reached very soon,” Vosbein said at Wednesday’s meeting. He said the board vote would give him the legal authority to sign the deal when it is reached, though it would still require a vote of the full seven-member Superdome Commission to be ratified.
The deal on Benson Tower, where tenants are almost entirely state agencies, is with the State of Louisiana and has to be approved by Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration.
Saints spokesperson Greg Bensel on Wednesday pointed to an earlier statement that said the organization was “fully committed” to a long-term partnership with the state so that the team can be successful.
A lucrative history
The lengthy back-and-forth between the state and the Saints appears to be nearing resolution. Negotiators on both sides say they have cleared most of the major hurdles and now expect to sign a deal within days.
The remaining disagreements trace back to a 2009 arrangement struck by then-Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration and Superdome Commission chair Ron Forman with late owner Tom Benson — a deal Forbes once described as “the most complex — and lucrative — stadium lease agreement in the NFL.”
That package gave the Saints wide-ranging revenue streams, including a $5 million bonus when the Dome hosted a Super Bowl, 42% of game-day concessions, a cut of non-football events, naming rights, parking revenues and rent from Champions Square. It also obligated the state to lease office space in Benson Tower, a provision that has long been contentious.
Auditors over the years have criticized the state for paying above market rates at the tower. The Saints counter that when parking, upgrades and operating expenses are included, the effective rate is in line with the market.
Saints spokesperson Greg Bensel has characterized the real estate deals as “the financial backbone” of the overall stadium deal that makes the Saints viable in one of the smallest of the NFL’s 32 markets.
Those side deals remain the most sensitive pieces of the puzzle, but negotiators now say solutions are on the table. Vosbein has authority to sign the lease once the final details are ironed out, and both the state and the team say they are determined to get there quickly.
The urgency is heightened by looming NFL deadlines. Without a signed deal, New Orleans risks losing its shot to host the 2031 Super Bowl, which could delay the city’s next chance until 2038.
Saints officials say owner Gayle Benson could appeal directly to Commissioner Roger Goodell if the deal comes together soon.
Staff writers Jeff Duncan and Tyler Bridges contributed to this report.