Saints' regionalization needs a boost

Here in Jackson, Miss., it's all Reggie all the time. Since Reggie Bush got to training camp you see him on local television. You see him on the front page. Heck, you even saw him on the editorial pages in a cartoon the day he arrived in town for Saints' camp.

With such intensive Reggie/Saints coverage, you'd think the team's regionalization plans would be going well. After all, if you see it and hear it enough, you ought to be enticed into seeing the product.

Alas, the Saints' regionalization plan may need some work. Shreveport's ticket sales for the Saints-Cowboys preseason game have been hovering in the mid-30,000s for about three weeks now. The Jackson ticket sales are apparently even lower in the high 20,000s.

Neither stadium will likely be sold out for preseason games and both are attractive contests with the Cowboys in Shreveport and the Colts in Jackson.

So what to make of all of this?

Two things. One, Shreveport and Jackson aren't particularly affluent for the kind of ticket prices being asked. And two, both cities are just now being asked to be part of the Saints' plan after years of, shall we say, neglect.

It's going to take time for the regionalization thing to work. Hopefully for Saints fans, Tom Benson will be patient.