The New Orleans Saints have announced their decision to relocate their 2024 training camp to the University of California, Irvine, as they embark on constructing a brand-new cafeteria.
Facility Grades Drive Decision
The Saints started renovating their cafeteria and weight room in 2023. They got an F-minus on the NFL Players Association’s report card for their food services that year, landing them in 30th place. The following year, in 2024, they again received an F for their cafeteria, still ranking 30th in the league.
“Currently, [owner Gayle Benson] and our organization have invested in the construction of a new cafeteria, that when completed, will be among the finest in the National Football League. The scope of this project makes it difficult to host training camp on-site in 2024, given the extensive needs for our team to prepare for the regular season,” Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said in a news release Friday.
The Saints scored an A-minus for their weight room in 2023, followed by a B grade in 2024. Saints president Dennis Lauscha clarified at the league’s annual meeting in March that the cafeteria upgrades were unrelated to the report card.
“It’s nothing against their survey, but we had it on the books for a while to improve the cafeteria, improve the cooking area,” Lauscha said. “That cooking area and that cafeteria, although we still think it’s new for some of the folks that have been there, it’s over 20 years old. It had to be changed, it had to be upgraded. … We want to have the best facilities. We want to be able to recruit and attract players, and in order to that, you have to have good facilities.”
Training Camp Venue Changes
This marks the first time since their tenure at the Greenbrier resort from 2014 to 2016 that the Saints have moved their entire training camp. They plan to return to their Metairie practice facility by 2025, once they finalize all renovations.
“We don’t have a cafeteria right now, we don’t have cooking right now. We’re upgrading all of those things, upgrading our weightlifting facilities,” Lauscha said. “We can’t get it all done by the start of training camp. I fully expect to be back in Metairie the following year when all the renovations are done.
The Saints have trained in California several times, spending a week in Oxnard in 2011 and having joint practices with the Los Angeles Chargers in Costa Mesa from 2017 to 2019, and again in 2022 and 2023.
This report used information from ESPN.
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