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Saints Officially Moving Training Camp to California

California will be the temporary home for Saints training camp in 2024, and here's why.
John Hendrix|
Aug 11, 2023; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen looks on during training
Aug 11, 2023; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen looks on during training | Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

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New Orleans Saints

The University of California, Irvine will be the temporary home of Saints training camp for 2024. The team made the formal announcement on Friday, with some press release comments from Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis.

“Currently, Mrs. 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. We appreciate the outstanding support we have received from our great fans at training camp. We are thankful to be able to come to an agreement with the University of California, Irvine to host training camp, providing us with exceptional fields and facilities that are critical to our football team receiving the necessary work in preparation for the 2024 season.”

This is something we've expected and anticipated ever since Dennis Allen hinted at the possibility during training camp last season. The finite details and official agreement were the only thing we have been waiting on since learning about the destination just a few months ago.

In addition to a new cafeteria, the team is also upgrading the workout facilities and general egress. To say the least, it's a construction mess there, which started back in December. It simply won't be ready in time for training camp. It'll be the first time the team is away from Metairie since they were at The Greenbrier from 2014-2016. Team President Dennis Lauscha told us at the NFL Annual League Meetings that this is only expected to be for one year.

The Saints will be practicing at Crawford Field at UCI's athletics complex, which has previously housed the Rams from 2016-19 and 2021-23. Team operations for OTAs and minicamp are still expected to be held in Metairie. New Orleans will also likely have back-to-back preseason games on the West Coast to help with logistics.

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John Hendrix
JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net

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