May 24, 2024, 4:30 PM ET
The New Orleans Superdome will host the Super Bowl in 2024 and must undergo renovations for the event.
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Saints president Dennis Lauscha denounced the “disingenuous and unprofessional” conduct of the state commission that oversees the Superdome in a new round of public confrontation this Friday over the team’s withholding of money of the NFL for renovations to the stadium that will host the next Super Bowl.
Vista aérea del Superdome de New Orleans. Kirby Lee/Getty Images
During an interview conducted by the Saints’ official website, Lauscha confirmed that the team’s decision to withhold payments was due to dissatisfaction with the state’s stance in parallel negotiations toward a long-term lease for the Superdome.
The Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District “was informed that material progress must be made toward a long-term lease or payments would be suspended,” Lauscha said. “At the end of last week, not enough progress had been made and the Saints reached out to tell them, once again, that payments would not be made until significant progress is made on the lease.”
The LSED made public during a meeting Wednesday that the Saints were $11.4 million behind on payments for Superdome renovations that are scheduled to be completed this summer.
The NFL club issued a statement later that day saying it was still willing to pay its share of the renovations, but not until it received “documentation” not specified at the time. LSED officials responded that they “don’t understand” what documentation the Saints need because not a single work invoice related to renovations had been questioned.
Lauscha indicated that it was “absolutely false and unprofessional for the LSED to make a statement that they do not know what we are looking for.”
However, LSED’s statement did make reference to lease negotiations.
“That is a completely separate and independent agreement,” the LSED said. “There is no legal basis to withhold payments under the Superdome Renovation Project Development Agreement based on efforts to negotiate a longer-term extension.”
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The amount of money in question is small relative to the nearly $550 million scope of the renovation project, which has grown from an initial $450 million plan formally approved in 2019. But the team’s delay in payment could cause flow problems of cash and hinder the capacity of the LSED. to complete the remaining work, unless the state can find an additional funding source as a stopgap measure until the impasse with the equipment is resolved.
Lauscha said Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called Saints owner Gayle Benson Thursday night “and they had a wonderful conversation.”
After the call, an LSED attorney “reached out to us and told us they wanted to meet with us to resolve our impasse and we appreciate that,” Lauscha said.
Lauscha said the Saints became concerned about the tenor of lease negotiations when LSED and the company the state pays to manage the dome, ASM Global, told the club they “wanted to discuss reverting some of the rights granted to the dome.” equipment in the current rental”.
“This was clearly not what was agreed upon and is shocking, to say the least, given how fundamental those rights were for the association to function as designed,” Lauscha said without specifying which “rights” were the target of state negotiators. . “Faced with that threat, we told ASM and LSED that we would have no choice but to delay construction payments until they agreed to honor the commitments they made to preserve our rights.”
The Saints currently own various rights to the revenue streams generated by the dome, such as those derived from naming rights agreements and advertising space.
The LSED declined to comment further on the matter Friday, standing by previous statements, said spokesman Mike Hoss.
Most renovations have been completed. About $58 million in work remains, and the Saints are responsible for about $41 million. The Saints have committed to spending about $200 million on renovations to the Superdome, according to the team’s statement.
The project has included renovations to the stadium’s entrances, lobbies and kitchens; installation of new sky-high escalators; and the replacement of old ramps with stairs and elevators. Much of it was completed even before last season.
The remaining work is expected to be completed before the start of the NFL season, nearly six months before the nearly 50-year-old stadium hosts the Super Bowl on Feb. 9.
2024-05-24 20:30:00
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