 It was in this environment, in 1965, that David Dixon, a New Orleans antiques dealer, who would be instrumental in bringing the New Orleans Saints (and building their current home stadium, the Superdome) to his hometown, began to envision football as a possible spring and summer sport.Over the next 15 years, Dixon studied the last two challengers to the NFL's dominance of pro football—the successful American Football League and the troubled World Football League.In 1980, he commissioned a study by Frank Magid Associates that found promising results for a spring and summer football league.