Saints Ticket Holders Form Grassroots Group to Regain Seats

NEW ORLEANS, LA (March 30, 2010) -- With the recent announcement regarding the relocation of 1,200 New Orleans Saints season ticket holders due to ongoing Superdome renovations and with no guarantee that they will have seats for the 2010 season, a group of fans known as the Missing 1200 have come together to make sure those season ticket holders will be accommodated.

The Missing 1200, a grass roots organization, is composed of season ticket holders who lost their seats when the organization announced that a new press box will eliminate rows in the Upper Terrace sideline on the Claiborne Avenue side of the Superdome. The new press box is now necessary because of the construction of new suites. The Saints’ ticket diagram shows the press box spanning the upper rows of Section 635 through Section 645.

On Tuesday, the group delivered a letter to the New Orleans Saints requesting a guarantee that every season ticket holder is either temporarily or permanently relocated for the 2010 season.

The Missing 1200 made the following requests of the team in its letter:

1. Contact each affected season ticket holder in writing with information about which seats were displaced, why the team waited to call until season ticket renewal invoices were mailed, and the specific process for temporary and/or permanent relocation in 2010.
2.  Guarantee that every eliminated seat will be either temporarily or permanently relocated in 2010, regardless of how many season tickets are not renewed.
3. Keep Upper Terrace "neighborhoods" intact by relocating fans in groupings from their displaced sections.
4.  Publicly recognize that the organization values the spirited culture that fans bring to the upper rows of the affected Upper Terrace sections, a culture that contributes to the unique game day experience in the Superdome.

The New Orleans Saints began contacting affected season ticket holders by phone March 18, one day before renewal invoices were mailed to its remaining accounts. Phone calls indicated that season ticket holders would lose their seats and be placed at the top of the team’s wait list until other locations became available, but with no guarantee of a seat in either 2010 or 2011. A written notice describing the organization’s relocation plan has not been sent to the affected fans.

Despite limited communication from the Saints organization, members of The Missing 1200 recently aired their concerns on WGSO 990 AM and sent multiple letters to The Times-Picayune as well as other news organizations.

For more information on The Missing 1200, go to www.themissing1200.com. Affected season ticket holders and other supporters are also sharing information via Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=110090262341630 and http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=107789509246721.

To schedule an interview with The Missing 1200, contact Jeff Maumus at (504) 994-2682.