Arena Football League - New Orleans Voodoo

New Orleans Voodoo On Hold Until 2004

Lease negotiations with Arena delayed

Darrell Williams
Staff writer

The New Orleans Voodoo, expected to kick off its inaugural Arena Football League season next spring, won't begin until 2004, sources said.

In order to delay play from 2003 to 2004, the Voodoo must send a letter to the Arena Football League, said Chris McCloskey, the league's vice president of communications.

"We haven't received a letter from them," McCloskey said, "but Commissioner David Baker did receive a call from a representative of Tom Benson inquiring about the process of delaying play until 2004."

The Saints are the Voodoo's parent organization.

Saints chief financial officer Dennis Lauscha said it's too early to tell whether the Voodoo will kick off in 2003. However, it would be difficult for the team to begin play next year, he said.

"Whether the Voodoo will play is a tough call," he said. "This is an important year for Arena Football because of its new television package with NBC. It's important that, if we begin play, we do it right."

The start of the season was moved up two months to February to accommodate NBC. But Voodoo officials had to delay negotiations with New Orleans Arena officials because it was not then known whether the NBA Hornets would relocate to New Orleans.

Many of the officials who would be involved in the Arena lease talks were tied up, trying to negotiate a lease amendment with Superdome officials for the Saints. Because a lease agreement wasn't finalized, construction could not begin on the Voodoo's facilities.

Lauscha also said with most of the Arena's revenue directed to the Hornets, "the Voodoo wants to make sure there are revenue rights that would be available to us.

"We want to see what's available and not available, and come to some conclusions," he said.

The Voodoo will have to find a player personnel director. Tag Ribary, who had worked in the same capacity with the Washington Redskins, was hired to head the Voodoo. Ribary, who would have been the team's general manager, was on staff for about a week before leaving to join the Carolina Panthers' pro scouting department.

"It was just an opportunity he couldn't pass up," said Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.

Meanwhile, a letter requesting that the Voodoo postpone its first season by a year has to be sent to Baker by August so the league's board of directors can vote on it. The board will convene Aug. 17, the day before the Arena Bowl championship is played, to vote on divisional alignment and the broadcast schedule.

This article was taken from www.nola.com.  All rights reserved.