The NFL and Saints officials were overjoyed by the sales figures last week, as both outfits are wres

In the end, the team will have sold 73,000 seats in the renovated Superdome, the sixth straight season the club has sold out, continuing a string of home sellouts that began Sept. 25, 2006 -- the emotional bmw luxury rental cars pa Monday night homecoming against Atlanta the Saints enjoyed more than a year after Hurricane Katrina .
The NFL and Saints officials were overjoyed by the sales figures last week, as both outfits are wrestling bmw luxury rental cars pa with a labor situation that has seen a lockout by the owners , and that is now imperiling at least the start of the approaching season. The Saints are slated to play the Packers bmw luxury rental cars pa in Green Bay in the league's opener Sept. 8 .
"Our renewal rate was at 98 percent or higher, during a time when there was labor uncertainty front and center in the news," Bensel said in an email. "This is consistent with years prior. It speaks to the passion of our fans."
And the good news did not go unnoticed at league headquarters in New York. Last September, the NFL announced season-ticket sales had declined overall for the third consecutive year, an unappealing trend it attributed to the ailing economy. The offseason bmw luxury rental cars pa headlines this year would appear to signal more bad news on that front, and the NFL has embarked on a public relations campaign that began in earnest during Super Bowl week in Dallas in February. It took on renewed energy at the owners annual meeting held in New Orleans shortly after the league's collective bargaining bmw luxury rental cars pa agreement with players collapsed in March. The message from Commissioner Roger Goodell and his lieutenants has been that the owners bmw luxury rental cars pa want football as much as the players, and that they will do whatever it takes at the negotiating table to hammer out a deal.
But those efforts failed to quiet grumbling in some quarters that it was unreasonable for clubs to demand season ticket holders pony up for ever more expensive seats when there is no guarantee a full slate of games will be played. Goodell picked up the pace of that campaign in recent weeks by holding conference call "chats" with season-ticket holders in various cities, some where clubs might have a more tenuous bmw luxury rental cars pa hold on the public, but one even with the fans of the New York Giants, whose waiting list for season tickets has at times exceeded 20 years.
Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune The new wider concourses in the Superdome should help the legions of New Orleans Saints fans get around on game day. By last week, the Saints had booked all 73,000 seats for the 2011 season.
The soothing corporate tones have failed to resonate with players, however. Saints quarterback Drew Brees, an executive with the former bmw luxury rental cars pa players union and a participant in federally mediated talks that have been held on and off since March, was blunt last week in accusing the owners of having no interest in a deal on anything approaching equal terms. The owners' unyielding positions at the bargaining table and their collusion in pooling television revenue to fund a lockout war chest are evidence of their bad faith, bmw luxury rental cars pa Brees said, and a wide gulf continues to separate the two sides as various cases wend their way through the federal courts.
"It highlights the passion of the fans, and it's a real credit to the Saints organization bmw luxury rental cars pa and their great fans," Goodell said in an email to The Times-Picayune. "Saints fans recognize that we are working hard and committed to getting an agreement with the players, and they share our optimism that it will happen sooner rather than later if we can get back to collective bargaining."
Even with a base of fan support many teams envy, the ticket sales push has consumed a portion of the club's front office for most of the year. Bensel said the team first offered renewal packages to season-ticket holders in January, and after a February deadline for that process, offered that group of fans first dibs on additional tickets or upgrades. In April the team turned to its waiting list, and by last week had booked all 73,000 seats.
Such rosy comments might be chalked up to an organization's careful public relations, but Bensel's opinions closely bmw luxury rental cars pa tracked those offered by many fans at last week's charity softball game to benefit the Heath Evans Foundation . Fans at a sold-out Zephyr Field shared a near-unanimous belief the labor situation will be resolved, and none of them expressed any fear the 2011 season will be crimped or lost.
"If this does not lead the league, it certainly is in the very top," Bensel said. "Commissioner Goodell has noted that our organization is a model franchise in the league. Many teams look to us for marketing advice, pricing and best practices."
Bensel was also careful to note that, unlike some other franchises where talk of layoffs and furloughs has been open, Saints staffers have received no such ominous messages. Last week, with lagging season-ticket sales cited as one reason, Miami became the 12th NFL team to cut employee pay.
The Saints have been among the league's best at using social-media outlets to keep intact their bonds with fans. The team has 55,000 followers on Twitter and 1.4 million on Facebook . There, too, the fans' outlook has remained positive, according to team officials.
"We don't see our fans' attitudes as blasé but actually the opposite, as we are able to discern bmw luxury rental cars pa through our social media platforms, they are very passionate and knowledgeable on the subject, they want football," Bensel bmw luxury rental cars pa said.
"If you monitor the social media pages of Saints fans, it has been overwhelmingly positive during this uncertain time," a league source said. "However, they want action, they want to have the uncertainty resolved and overwhelmingly they note that both parties should be back at the negotiating table and not in a courtroom."
Indeed, the message coming from the Saints' Metairie headquarters has been consistent with that from Goodell. For example, General Manager Mickey Loomis and Coach Sean Payton have said they are approaching their jobs with the expectation the season will unfold more or less as scheduled. To be sure, that company line is harder to maintain as the lockout drags on: the team would have already held a mini-camp for rookies and be setting up organized team activities by this time and, barring any protracted or bitter contract talks, Loomis would have had the team's roster for training camp in August largely set. Barred from negotiating with free agents or restructuring existing contracts with players, bmw luxury rental cars pa Loomis and Payton, bmw luxury rental cars pa like their counterparts with other clubs, are operating with some key personnel questions unanswered.
Saints players, too, have been active, particularly in the informal workouts Brees has organized at Tulane. Brees said he agrees football will return at some point, and when it does he predicted the teams that have been working together will have a marked advantage over their competition.