It’s been a few years since New Orleans Pelicans owner Gayle Benson last talked about getting upgrades to the team’s arena, in part because she fell behind on making payments to the state on Superdome renovations for the Saints, which she also owns. The arena renovations are back on again now, and they include adding more seats, more VIP clubs, and refurbished luxury suites with “high-end furnishings like island bars, crushed velour furniture, brass light fixtures and wood floors” — all the better to distract you from the fact that you just paid premium prices to watch the Pelicans.
How much would all this cost? The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which got ahold of the team’s plans via a public records request, notes:
Cost estimates were not included in the report. The state and Pelicans are expected to pay for the project through a public-private partnership similar to the one used to fund the recent $560 million renovation of the Superdome.
The Times-Picayune doesn’t bother to go into detail about how the Saints deal works: It was in fact two-thirds state money, one-third Benson money that the owner dragged her feet on paying until she could get the state spending upped from $300 million to $380 million in exchange for a five-year lease extension until 2035. How much taxpayers would be on the hook for in a Pelicans deal, and how long Benson would be willing to extend her lease for — it currently expires in 2029 — remains unknown: Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District attorney Larry Roedel told the paper that the arena plans are “preliminary at best” and both renovation funding and a new lease are “subjects yet to be negotiated.”
The New Orleans arena, for those keeping score at home, turns 27 this year, and just got a state-funded $54 million renovation in 2014. It’s sadly lacking in crushed velour, however, as well as having too many upper-deck seats and not enough lower-deck seats, which the Times-Picayune informs us are “a prime revenue source for the Pelicans.” If the goal here is to have the state of Louisiana spend a pile of money so that the team can increase its profits, might it be simpler and cheaper to skip the whole renovation business and just have the state pay Benson directly? It is a local tradition, after all.
It’s possible that New Orleans itself isn’t big enough for two “major” sports franchises, and that the Pelicans’ attendance issues are far less about fan apathy and more about the tiny population/corporate base with no money left over for the newer, less established team with far less of a connection to the city than the original NOLA team — but that’s a different conversation for a different day.
Also a team that has historically sucked. One thing about smaller (or more glutted) markets is that they can sometimes draw well, but the fan base tends to find other things to do when the team is in the cellar — whereas the Los Angeles Angels, to pick one example, can sell 2.5 million tickets even when half the roster is clinically dead.
New Orleans is a tiny market with very little corporate dollars. There’s really no need for two teams. The Saints being there gets you the Superdome, and that’s a major part of the tourist based economy. But the Smoothie King Center would probably be better off without an NBA tenant.
The city is nearly bankrupt. Several public higher education institutions are running multimillion-dollar deficits, including the University of New Orleans. UNO’s finances are so bad that LSU is having second thoughts about bringing them into the LSU system. The I-10 bridge in Lake Charles is beyond its useful life. There are only two bridges over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge. Let’s spend money on the Pelicans.
New Orleans, unlike most cities, has little trouble booking concerts. I would not be surprised if those 41 dates for the Pelicans could be filled with more events.