Fansided

Ugly legal fight ahead for control of New Orleans Saints, Pelicans

By Phil Watson

Aug 28, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints owners Tom Benson, center, his wife Gayle Benson, left, and his granddaughter Rita Benson LeBlanc, right, on the sidelines before their game against the Baltimore Ravens at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 28, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints owners Tom Benson, center, his wife Gayle Benson, left, and his granddaughter Rita Benson LeBlanc, right, on the sidelines before their game against the Baltimore Ravens at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tom Benson, the 87-year-old owner of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans, has changed his will to turn the teams over to his wife.

Let’s play the feud!

After Tom Benson, the owner of the New Orleans Saints of the NFL and the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, decided to transfer ownership of the franchises to his wife upon his death, rather than his granddaughter, the Benson family holdings are going to end up in a Louisiana court.

According to NOLA.com, Benson’s daughter, Renee Benson, and her children, Rita Benson LeBlanc and Ryan LeBlanc, have filed suit in Orleans Parish Civil Court asserting that 67-year-old Gayle Benson has effectively staged a “coup” by maneuvering Tom Benson away from his family.

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Their suit challenges Tom Benson’s competence to control the two franchises and seeks to have the change in succession overturned.

Rita Benson LeBlanc had been the designated heir apparent until the will was changed.

The lawsuit claims that Tom Benson’s health is much worse than has been publicized and attempts to depict Gayle Benson as an opportunist who has taken advantage of her husband’s ill health in a bid for control of the Bayou’s largest sports empire.

The couple was married in October 2004 and, according to the court filing, Gayle Benson was required to agree to a prenuptial agreement that “limited her right to community property during marriage, upon divorce and upon his death.”

Benson purchased the Saints in 1985 and bought the Pelicans from the NBA in 2012. According to his former succession plan (per NOLA.com), 60 percent of the sports empire–a controlling interest—would have transferred to Renee Benson, with the children to each receive 20 percent of the franchises.

Gayle Benson played a significant role in the rebranding of the Pelicans—which had been known as the Hornets since their move from Charlotte, N.C., in 2002—and also in securing a naming-rights deal with Mercedes-Benz for the Superdome.

It’s gotten ugly fast—the three family members, Renee, Rita and Ryan, were removed from the Saints staff directory on Wednesday. Benson LeBlanc had held the title of vice chairman of the board for both franchises.

But she was placed on an unofficial paid administrative leave in 2012 and has not returned to the day-to-day operation of the teams.

Benson wasn’t always embraced by the New Orleans sports community, but in the wake of Hurricane Katrina achieved hero status by keeping the Saints in New Orleans after exploring other options due to the massive damage at the Superdome.

The team played the entire 2005 season on the road, playing its home games at the Alamodome in San Antonio and at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

When the then-Hornets became wards of the NBA in 2010, it was Benson who stepped up to buy the team when there was significant discussion the franchise could be relocated. The Hornets were also displaced by Katrina, playing two seasons in Oklahoma City before returning to The Big Easy in 2007.

When the Saints won the Super Bowl after the 2009 NFL season, they became the first New Orleans-based team to win a title in a major sport. But it appears as if the ownership situation surrounding the team will descend into a soap opera for the foreseeable future.

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