IRVINE, Calif. — It's a California vacation for the Black and Gold, as Saints training camp will officially move from Metairie to Orange County, Calif., Saints executives announced Saturday.
Saints officials said the move would make way for a construction project that since breaking ground in December has taken up space inside the Ochsner Sports Performance Center in Jefferson Parish.
"Currently, Mrs. Benson and our organization have invested in the construction of a new cafeteria," General Manager Mickey Loomis said Saturday. "The scope of this project makes it difficult to host training camp on-site in 2024."
The new training camp will be inside the University of California at Irvine. Most recently, the UCI athletics complex has been the training camp for the Los Angeles Rams.
The Saints have been no stranger to the Golden State. In August, the Saints had a joint practice and a scrimmage with the Los Angeles Chargers in Orange County, amid a historic hurricane.
But this would be the first time the Saints spent an entire training camp period in California since the 1960s, when the Saints trained in San Diego for their inaugural seasons.
Businesses in Metairie have expressed concerns about the move, which had been in consideration for a months.
Short Stop Poboys owner Russell Hendrick said that at his restaurant, training camp increases profits by 20 to 25% per day.
"California is a nice place to have camp, I get it, but it's going to be sorely mised here," Hendrick said in February. "There's no poboys in California. Well, not many anyways."
The full training schedule has been set for release later this year, according to Saints' officials.
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