NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- The NFL reportedly will consider relocating the New Orleans Saints to Los Angeles if New Orleans cannot bounce back from Hurricane Katrina.
The league plans to return the Saints to New Orleans if the city shows it can still support the team, officials told the Washington Post.
But, they said the National Football League is concerned that the Gulf Coast area will not be able to fully recover economically. This would open up the possibility of having the Saints play in San Antonio next season and then move permanently to Los Angeles.
The Saints have been based in San Antonio since being displaced from the Louisiana Superdome by the hurricane in August, but the sources said the league is not interested in keeping them there.
The NFL has been actively seeking to return a franchise to Los Angeles, the second-largest television market in the country, which has not had a team since the Raiders left for Oakland after the 1994 season.
