Saints owner Tom Benson and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue completed an agreement Monday morning to play four Saints home games in Tiger Stadium.
Tagliabue and Benson met on campus with other LSU officials, including Athletics Director Skip Bertman, Senior Associate Athletics Director Dan Radakovich, Chancellor Sean O’Keefe and Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Bernie Boudreaux.
“We had an excellent meeting this morning and quickly developed a dual consensus,” Tagliabue said in a news release. “The first was to continue to give priority to the needs of the region and the second to the scheduling of Saints games in a way that made sense under the total circumstances.”
Radakovich said that LSU officials’ main objective of the meeting was to help the Saints organization in any way.
“I think that LSU’s position through this entire situation is one of trying to help in a very tragic circumstance for the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana,” Radakovich said. “We were just seeing if there was any role that we can play in that effort. Everybody was working towards the best solution for everyone involved.”
The first of the four games will welcome former Tigers coach Nick Saban back to Tiger Stadium when he coaches the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 30. This game will be followed by one against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 6.
LSU has home dates the Saturday night before both games. LSU plays North Texas on Oct. 29 and Appalachian State on Nov. 5.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play in Baton Rouge on Dec. 4. The Saints will finish their season in Death Valley on Dec. 18 against the Carolina Panthers.
“LSU, throughout the course of this, has endeavored to be supportive of the state’s objectives of meeting the commitments made to the Saints and to accommodate those as much as possible, while recognizing that this is a venue for the LSU Tigers,” O’Keefe said. “The opportunity to share that [venue] with the New Orleans Saints under these circumstances creates a tremendous partnership on behalf of the state of Louisiana.”
Three “home” games have been relocated to the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Saints Dec. 24 game against the Detroit Lions, the last home game of the season, will also be played in San Antonio.
It was announced Sept. 5 that the first scheduled home game against the New York Giants would be moved moved to Giants Stadium and will appear on “Monday Night Football” on Sept. 19. The Saints and Giants were originally scheduled to play Sunday night, Sept. 18 in New Orleans.
Starting times for the games have not been determined, among other decisions.
One of the major concerns is the alcohol policy in Tiger Stadium. Alcohol is not allowed in the stadium during LSU games, but NFL games permit the consumption of alcohol by its fans.
Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent said the University has not made a decision about the alcohol policy for Saints games.
“[Monday] was just about deciding to play [in Tiger Stadium] while we had Saints owner Tom Benson and Paul Tagliabue here,” Vincent said. “Other decisions will be made at a later date.”
Contact Tabby Soignier at [email protected]