Saints to Call LSU, Alamodome Home

The New Orleans Saints will head back to their home state for four games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., and will play three others in San Antonio’s Alamodome, their headquarters since being displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The team and league settled that matter Monday, but most of the specifics are still being determined.

Ticket plans are being worked out, too, as are ways to tie proceeds to the relief effort.

Many of the Saints are living in a hotel across an interstate from the Alamodome. So they’ll have a short commute for games Oct. 2 or 3 against Buffalo, Oct. 16 or 17 against Atlanta and Dec. 24, 25 or 26 against Detroit. The team will travel to the LSU campus for games Oct. 30 or 31 against Miami, Nov. 6 or 7 against Chicago, Dec. 4 or 5 against Tampa Bay, and Dec. 17, 18 or 19 against Carolina.

The Saints seemed pleased with the split, which enables them to reach out to fellow Louisiana residents trying to recover from the devastating storm while also showing appreciation for the hospitality they’ve received in Texas.

“I think the fact of what San Antonio did for us -- we had no other place to go where something like this was set up -- that’s what made this happen,” Saint owner Tom Benson said, speaking publicly for the first time since the hurricane. He repeatedly deflected discussions about the team’s future.

After spending last week getting settled into a new routine in San Antonio, Coach Jim Haslett began to like the idea of playing in the Alamodome.

“It’s more of a travel issue,” he said. “I know what their agenda was, to play as many games as possible in our home state. Our players like that, too.... I’m not really worried about the location. Our first concern is just to win football games.”

The Alamodome seats roughly 65,000 for football.