Jason Redmond, a spokesman for the treasurer's office, said Kennedy declined to be interviewed. Greg Bensel, a team spokesman, didn't respond to a request for an interview with Benson, who bought the Saints in 1985 for $70 million.

Democrat Kathleen Blanco, Louisiana's governor in 2006, said that even in retrospect the auction-rate bond deal was worth it. "Losing the Saints was not an option, as far as I was concerned," she said by e-mail. "With no crystal ball it was impossible to predict the colossal failure of the financial system and its attending costs."

In the end, the money spent to get the Superdome ready for the 2006 football season came mostly from other sources, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the NFL and the state general fund. The auction-rate bonds covered only about $40 million, according to financial reports from the stadium district.

Most of the rest of the $294 million the bonds brought in went to refinance earlier borrowing. The price tag -- which was originally expected to be $14 million -- will be at least $42 million, including fees for the securities and swaps, the cost of the auctions and expenses incurred when the bonds were repurchased, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The costs have been steep for other auction-rate borrowers. New Jersey, which got into the debt under Corzine, and the Denver schools, which issued the securities under Bennet, later borrowed money to end related interest-rate swap agreements. New Jersey paid $122.6 million in one case, and the school district spent about $62 million.

Denver Schools Respond

Michael Vaughn, the schools spokesman, said the 2008 deal cut the cost of unfunded liabilities for retirees, facilitated the merger of its pension plan with a state fund and helped prevent teacher firings.

Louisiana didn't need the burden, said state Representative Jim Fannin, a Democrat from Jonesboro. The state this fiscal year cut spending on health care and prisons, canceled workers' pay raises and eliminated 4,000 positions.

"There are so many other needs," said Fannin, chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives.

The bonds were another chapter in the financial relationship between the state and the 45-year-old Saints, a team so popular fans filled the stadium during the 20 years it took to notch a winning season, though in the 1980s some started wearing paper bags on their heads during the games.