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NEW ORLEANS (AP)—The home of the New Orleans Saints and site of six Super Bowls will be renamed the Mercedes-Benz Superdome under a deal with the German automaker announced Tuesday.
…The deal will allow Mercedes-Benz USA to have its name associated with championships in college and pro football and men’s college basketball over the next 16 months—plus an NFL team that has gone from a doormat to Super Bowl winner. The stadium also hosted a Republican presidential convention and a visit from the pope, and once served as refuge for thousands of miserable victims of Hurricane Katrina.
After hosting a Republican presidential convention, they’d surely want to conduct some sort of exorcism. No wonder they needed a visit from the pope. In the future, it might be prudent to host the GOP convention in a building already slated for demolition, just to be on the safe side. The convention may last only a few days, but unspeakable evil – like the Bush administration’s betrayal of the Katrina victims – is forever.
Follow along below the New Orleans fleur-de-lis for more…
The Superdome opened in 1975. It has gone through many renovations, including a massive rebuild after Katrina ripped off its roof when the storm struck in August 2005.
The Superdome was considered a total loss by some lawmakers, who debated if it was worth restoring after the 2005 storm. The roof had been torn off and the building flooded. Evacuees filled the building, stewing in the heat without lights, air conditioning or working bathrooms, a scene that epitomized the chaos of the disaster.
The stadium reopened for the 2006 Saints season as the first part of a multiphase, $336 million renovation project paid for by the state, the NFL and with federal hurricane recovery dollars. The revamp was completed this past summer. Workers have replaced, refurbished and added seats; created new club facilities and luxury suites; and installed new video systems and scoreboards.
Regardless of their home team affiliations, millions of football fans have a warm place in their hearts for the New Orleans Saints, who have battled back from a legacy of derision as the “Aints” in the 1980’s, only to face the destruction of their stadium during Katrina, followed by a season where they were forced to call other venues “home”, before they could return to the Superdome. With all that New Orleans had endured, the Saints Superbowl win in 2009 was cause for celebration, and a sign that perhaps the future would again hold great things for a city that had endured so much.
Built at the edge of New Orleans’ business district, the stadium has a place in local lore, which holds it was built on the site of a former cemetery. In voodoo-conscious New Orleans, some speculated that was one reason why the Saints didn’t have a winning record from their first season in 1967 until 1987. Their break-out season came after Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass before thousands on the stadium floor.
We'll never know whether it was this Mass, Jim Mora's arrival as head coach, or some other factors, but you have to admit: this team needed something to Reverse the Curse. In 1987, they clinched a wild card spot in the playoffs and sent 6 players to the Pro Bowl. Things were beginning to look up.
With a Superbowl win in 2009, and another playoff berth in 2010, the Saints are off to a 3-1 start this year, it's clear that they're not just a flash in the pan. This naming-rights deal confirms that the city of New Orleans, the Saints, and the Superdome are worthy of a major investment to secure their future.
A price for the 10-year naming-rights deal was not disclosed. Gov. Bobby Jindal said the agreement was between the Saints and Mercedes-Benz—and the automaker had asked not to have the price released to the public.
Well, I’m pretty sure that this isn’t the first major transaction in Louisiana where the terms require a lifelong vow of secrecy. Still, even if he can’t squawk about the numbers, Jindal will no doubt remind his base that he’s always looking for new ways to defray the burden on state taxpayers.
Gov. Bobby Jindal called the agreement “a great partnership between two world-class organizations” and touted the savings that taxpayers would enjoy by elimination of a state payment to the team.
Superdome manager Doug Thornton said the addition of the naming-rights deal to extra revenues from new seats, luxury boxes and expanded concession stands and clubs will eliminate the state’s payment, which he said totaled $13.8 million last year. That revenue deal went into effect with the current NFL season.
“It goes from $13.8 million to zero,” Thornton said.
Many National Football League stadium names have changed as a result of the infusion of millions of dollars from major corporations in exchange for naming rights - Gillette, Bank of America, QualComm, Lucas Oil, Ford, Lincoln Financial, Fedex, M&T Bank, Qwest - to name a few.
Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College professor who studies sports economics, said the economy has made the sale of naming rights difficult lately...
“Having big upcoming events is attractive to those wanting naming rights,” Zimbalist said. “But as strange as it sounds, the role the Superdome had during Katrina and the attention it drew probably turned out to be a positive.”
Then again, with financial pressures continuing, maybe some companies will be able to scoop up some cheap naming rights deals. Looking at the sectors of the economy that are still thriving, perhaps we’ll see the Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dome.
YOUR CHALLENGE, dear Kossacks, is to come up with some creative corporate naming options for sports venues that reflect the tough economy in the "comments" section below. If your submittal is among those most recommended by your peers, you'll win a customized cassandracarolina limerick on the topic of your choice.
Hey, it's a tough economy. What did you think you'd be winning... cash?