Tag: mayor latoya cantrell

Saints, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell reach agreement to allow fans at Superdome

The New Orleans Saints reached a compromise with Mayor LaToya Cantrell to begin readmitting fans to the Superdome amid the COVID-19 pandemic

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After several days of negotiations and a maneuver exploring a temporary move to LSU’s Tiger Stadium, the New Orleans Saints reached an agreement with Mayor LaToya Cantrell to roll out a phased spectator policy for the remaining Saints home games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome this year.

Cantrell’s office had been reluctant to give the Saints a green light to admit large crowds of fans to the Superdome amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but now they’ll get an opportunity to attempt doing that safely.

For starters, just 3,000 Saints season-ticket holders will be eligible for Sunday’s matchup with the Carolina Panthers. if all goes well, the plan is for that to scale up over the rest of the season. Here’s how the Saints outlined things in a statement:

  • Oct. 25 vs. Carolina Panthers: 3,000 fans
  • Nov. 15 vs. San Francisco 49ers: 6,000
  • Nov. 22 vs. Atlanta Falcons: 6,000
  • Dec. 20 vs. Kansas City Chiefs: 15,000
  • Dec. 25 vs. Minnesota Vikings: 15,000

Described as a “phased and deliberate pilot approach” in a statement from the team, this compromise will at least allow some members of the Who Dat Nation to make their voices heard inside the Superdome. It’s hardly the same as the 70,000-strong crowd typically packing the stands, but it’s a step up from the 750 or so family members of players, coaches, and staffers that previously gathered in New Orleans.

So: if the Saints can only bring in the loudest 3,000 Saints fans possible, who would you pick?

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Saints explore moving home games to LSU’s Tiger Stadium

The New Orleans Saints explored moving their remaining 2020 home games from the Superdome to LSU’s Tiger Stadium amid COVID-19 restrictions.

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New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell still has not granted the Saints permission to host the Mercedes-Benz Superdome at partial capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the Saints have begun negotiations with LSU to consider playing home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. They last moved there in 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina, going 3-13.

The Saints have already received the green light from Governor John Bel Edwards to fill the Superdome at up to 25% capacity (about 18,000 spectators), but Cantrell’s office has not given the same permission as the city moves into Phase 3 of its COVID-19 recovery and reopening plan.

Tiger Stadium usually seats up to 102,000 fans, but it’s been reduced to crowds of about 25,000 amid the ongoing public health crisis. The Saints have tested their own game day health and safety protocols by hosting 750 family members of players, coaches, and staffers and believe they can responsibly expand that crowd at the Superdome, but transferring operations to Tiger Stadium would be a different challenge.

How serious these talks may be is unclear. It could simply be a negotiating tactic to put pressure on Cantrell into allowing the Saints to get their way; Saints home games are a critical revenue stream for the city even in this abnormal year, and the New Orleans pro football team playing home games outside of New Orleans would be, if nothing else, an awful look.

The Saints’ next home game is scheduled for Oct. 25 against the Carolina Panthers, after their bye week. That’s less than 24 hours after LSU will host South Carolina at Tiger Stadium, which would mean a very difficult retooling of the venue (which would be repeated weeks later, with LSU playing Alabama on Nov. 14 and the Saints facing the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 15). They could make it work, sure — but it might be easier if the Saints and Cantrell can reach a compromise.

That could be hard to come by. The New Orleans mayor’s office responded in a public statement, noting that while other teams have played in front of live crowds, no closed-roof NFL venue around the country has received permission to host large numbers of fans, including the Superdome. It doesn’t appear Cantrell is eager for New Orleans to become the first.

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Saints to welcome 750 family members of players, coaches, and staff vs. Packers

The New Orleans Saints will have about 750 spectators in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for their Week 3 night game with the Green Bay Packers.

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About 750 family members of New Orleans Saints players, coaches, and support staff will be in attendance at Sunday night’s game with the Green Bay Packers, the team announced. This follows their season opener with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a road game at the Las Vegas Raiders, neither of which involved a live audience.

The Saints characterized this as a trial run of their health and safety procedures for spectators amid the COVID-19 pandemic, explaining in a statement:

This is a strict test of our health and safety protocols that we have been working on with ASM Global, local and national health experts and city and state governmental leadership, including Governor John Bel Edwards and Mayor Latoya Cantrell, both of which are aware and have approved this safety test.

These protocols include health screenings, mobile ticketing, social distancing and other health and safety enhancements. Face masks will be required for all those attending. This is open only to immediate family, allowing us to test our procedures while allowing us to have a firm handle on who is attending for the purposes of safety and tracing.

This also follows a $100,000 fine for Saints coach Sean Payton and a $250,000 penalty to the team after Payton didn’t keep his face mask up during last week’s Raiders game, which violated NFL policy (Las Vegas coach Jon Gruden and his team were issued the same fines for also not following protocol). While Payton has already recovered from the coronavirus and begun donating antibodies to help others, it’s still important for everyone to follow the rules here.

So the Saints will be hosting just over 10.7% of the Superdome’s maximum occupancy against Green Bay as a test of their own procedures. If all goes well, they could be approved to welcome fans to future games in greater numbers; the next Saints home game on the schedule is an Oct. 12 kickoff on “Monday Night Football” with the Los Angeles Chargers.

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