[1] The NFL awarded the city of New Orleans the sixteenth franchise in the league on November 1, 1966, All Saints' Day, five months after the 89th United States Congress approved the merger of the NFL with the American Football League (AFL).
[2] In January 1967, the team was given the name "New Orleans Saints", and began playing in their first season in September of that year.
[3][4] The Saints were owned by oilman John W. Mecom Jr. from 1966 to 1985, when the team was sold to Tom Benson.
[5] He remained owner until his death in 2018, at which point primary ownership of the team passed to his wife Gayle Benson.
[6] She has since made arrangements with the NFL to sell the team and keep the Saints in New Orleans when she dies.