Owner/Executive Vice President Rita Benson LeBlanc oversees the business and administrative operations of the New Orleans Saints, including sales, marketing, community and youth programs, game entertainment, and stadium operations. LeBlanc was formally named to her position with the club in 2006, after having assumed many of the same responsibilities during the 2005 season in which the team was forced to evacuate to San Antonio in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. During that period LeBlanc, under the leadership of Saints owner Tom Benson, played a critical role in securing the return of the Saints to New Orleans. Since the team’s return, LeBlanc has focused her efforts on fulfilling Tom Benson’s pledge to Saints fans throughout the Gulf South “to build a winning team, on and off the field, and be leaders in the rebuilding of the Gulf South.”

In addition to a successful year on the field for the Saints in 2006, LeBlanc led a record setting sales and marketing effort off the field. Before the team took the field to reopen the Superdome on ESPN’s Monday Night Football September 25, 2006 the club achieved a season ticket sellout for the first time in its forty year history. In addition, the team was named 2006 Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association’s New Orleans region chapter and also received the 2007 MAX Award for its 2006 “Winning is An Attitude” advertising campaign. These successes were followed by another season ticket sellout for the 2007 season as well as a sellout of all Superdome Luxury Suites.

In her role as Owner/Executive Vice President, LeBlanc represents the club at NFL Ownership Meetings, chairing the NFL Employee Benefits Committee and serving on the newly formed NFL International Committee. Her close working relationship with the League office has proved to be beneficial in securing League grants and programs that benefit Gulf South youth and charitable initiatives.

LeBlanc, along with Saints owner Tom Benson, has made the team’s role in the rebuilding and growth of New Orleans and the Gulf South a priority. In addition to taking an active role in the team’s expansive community, youth and charitable efforts, LeBlanc serves on the United Way Board of Trustees, the New Orleans Business Council, the Board of Trustees of Loyola University, the Shirley Landry Benson PACE Center at St. Cecilia, and the Oblate Missionary Partnership. She is also involved with significant efforts to support coastal preservation and flood protection, working with Women of the Storm and The Coast Guardians to raise public awareness of these critical issues. These efforts have included lobbying members of Congress in Washington, DC, creating public service announcements and recruiting players and their families to lend their support to the mission.

LeBlanc was recognized for her work on behalf of the team and community in 2007 by being named one of the forty most influential sports executives under the age of forty by Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal. She also was awarded the inaugural “Changing Louisiana Award” by Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu for her volunteerism and social entrepreneurship on behalf of the state.

In addition to her position with the Saints, LeBlanc serves as Owner/Executive Vice President of the New Orleans VooDoo of the Arena Football League and has played a key role in the development of the team since the franchise was awarded in 2002. In 2004, LeBlanc was named AFL Executive of the Year and she currently serves on the Executive Committee and is Vice-Chair of the Properties Committee. Under her leadership, the VooDoo set a league record for season ticket sales in 2007 and led the AFL in attendance. With AFL board support, she and Tom Benson helped to secure ArenaBowl XXI for New Orleans, the first professional sports league championship game held in the city since Hurricane Katrina.

LeBlanc is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Agribusiness, and a certificate in International Business from the Mays School of Business. She was a member of the inaugural class of the NFL Managers Program at Stanford University’s Executive Education Graduate School of Business. Her previous sports experience includes roles with the NFL in New York, the NFL Properties Publishing Group in Los Angeles and NFL Films in Mount Laurel, N.J.