<P> In April 2005, Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints, halted lease negotiations with the state of Louisiana until after the completion of the 2005 NFL Season, due to a stadium dispute . Rumors quickly began to spread that San Antonio, Texas, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Los Angeles, California were being considered as possible destinations for the team . It was reported that Benson had strong interest in relocating to San Antonio due to owning a substantial amount of property in the region and having strong business interests within the city, specifically related to his car dealership empire . </P> <P> After practicing for approximately a week in San Jose, California, where they had evacuated in conjunction with a pre-season game against the Oakland Raiders, the team set up temporary headquarters and arranged for practice facilities in San Antonio, Texas . </P> <P> The league then announced that although the Saints' first home game on September 18 against the New York Giants would be played at Giants Stadium at 7: 30 p.m. EDT on September 19, other home games would be split between Tiger Stadium (the stadium of the LSU Tigers football) at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (80 miles / 130 km from New Orleans), and the Alamodome in San Antonio (540 miles / 869 km from New Orleans); offices and practice would remain in San Antonio throughout the season . </P> <P> Various media reports in the San Antonio Express - News indicated the owner and government officials in San Antonio were working behind the scenes concerning a possible permanent relocation to San Antonio . San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger had pushed a strong verbal campaign to pursue the Saints . Other officials, including Texas Governor Rick Perry, had indicated that they would also support a relocation to San Antonio, including using funding to upgrade the Alamodome, or possibly build a new stadium . Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, whose team currently has San Antonio as part of its territorial rights, also supported an NFL team moving to San Antonio . However, the NFL and commissioner Paul Tagliabue were both in favor of keeping the franchise in New Orleans or at least delaying a decision on a potential relocation . Other rumors of the period said that the NFL preferred to move the team to Los Angeles, or even to expand to Toronto instead, as both cities are over twice the size of San Antonio . </P>

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