Our Views: Officials get special deal

Paying $850 for admission to a football game doesn’t seem like much of a bargain to us.

But believe it or not, that’s a cheap price to pay for a ticket to Sunday’s Super Bowl game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

State lawmakers were able to buy two tickets for the event at face value, which ranges from $850 to $1,250, thanks to a sweetheart deal offered by New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson. The average price for a Super Bowl ticket is $3,195.14, according to one industry website.

Benson offered lawmakers the chance to buy tickets as a thank-you for their support in securing the Super Bowl for New Orleans, according to an email that he sent legislators.

This isn’t the first time that state lawmakers have been offered a chance to get bargain tickets for marquee sporting events, but even so, we haven’t gotten used to the idea that legislators should get such perks simply for holding a public office. This is influence-peddling in the worst Louisiana tradition.

Not all lawmakers accepted the ticket deal, and we’re glad about that. But some of them — such as state Sens. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, and Robert Adley, R-Benton — said they gave other people access to the tickets after deciding not to buy the tickets themselves.

That kind of transaction troubles us, too. In dispensing this steep ticket discount to favored constituents, lawmakers get to use a perk of their office to curry political favor in their districts.

Benson’s Saints depend on lavish, taxpayer-funded support — a policy that depends on legislative approval. We’ve long recognized the economic value of the Saints’ presence in New Orleans, and we’ll continue to wish the Saints well. But it’s simply not appropriate to reward lawmakers with special access to sporting events. Citizens need assurance that state officials are supporting economic players such as the Saints and the Super Bowl on the merits — and not as a quid pro quo for special favors.

Comments

1) Comment by [e-mail] - 02/02/2013

Any ticket received like that is a hain't ticket!. "It hain't yours and it hain't mine." Pardon me Mark Twain.

2) Comment by phil - 01/02/2013

It amazes me when I read about the problem with women getting to the Women's hospital and then read about the Saints subsidy and now the article about Miles getting ANOTHER raise. I think I know where a lot of the money in LA and BR goes to. Maybe we need to give Legislators free tickets to the Women's hospital to watch women walk to the hospital. (I admit that I do not have a final solution to that hospital/CATS problem, but I did offer one solution) By the way, the 2 comments on the Miles article about his raise seemed to disappear very fast. Why is that? How do YOU define "greed".

3) Comment by bourbon-soda - 01/02/2013

This issue is petty compared to the fortunes routinely amassed by politicians over a salaried career.

4) Comment by jdk944 - 01/02/2013

Wow, The Advocate speaking of "ethics" in our state while supporting this president and his administration's tactics of unconstitutionality, etc. on a regular pace. NOW THAT'S HYPOCRISY!

5) Comment by phil - 01/02/2013

How about those free Superfest tickets? This is just more of the same, in my opinion.

6) Comment by bourbon-soda - 01/02/2013

What's wrong with scalping? Isn't it between consenting adults?

7) Comment by whyisthisnews - 01/02/2013

So The Advocate would be happier if Senator Adley and Thompson's constituents paid a scalper's price of $3,195.14 each, rather than $895 each? Who is trying to helping out the Louisiana residents, the Advocate or the legislators?

8) Comment by gary - 01/02/2013

I'm on the fence about letting our legislators a chance at the $850 seats - the nosebleed section in the dome is horrible to watch a game from. I don't think some of them will fit in those narrow seats. The governor should be down there rubbing elbows with the high rollers from all over the country, not watching from his couch at the mansion.

9) Comment by Cousin Dave - 01/02/2013

How is that different from the Advocate providing free newspapers to legislators during the session to assure that they get the lucrative contract to publish that god-awful Acts of the Legislature, which wols be better published online at a state web site. The hypocrpsy is overwhelming.

10) Comment by Bighug - 01/02/2013

The real news here is that the legislators got to buy tickets at face value, which is legal. How are all those other tickets being sold illegally with no arrests? Did the legislature suspend the law against scalping until after Super Bowl Sunday?