News release assignment for Public Relations

1. New Orleans Pelicans
Owner Tom Benson Passes Away, Wife Gayle to Take Over
After the unfortunate passing of New Orleans Pelicans owner Tom Benson, the
ownership responsibilities have fallen to his wife, Gayle Benson. With this change, the direction
of the Pelicans franchise is expected to continue to go up, as Mrs. Benson hopes to carry
forward the basketball first mentality, if not even try to emphasize it more. The Pelicans are
expected to make a lot of noise this offseason, hoping to complement the otherworldly play
Anthony Davis and last year’s addition of DeMarcus Cousins. The
ultimate goal of the new ownership is to make the current
playoff run more of a regular occurrence for the New Orleans
franchise moving forward.
All of this basketball first talk, of course, comes from the
long-held belief that the New Orleans Pelicans basketball
franchise is more of a “little brother” to the successful Saints
franchise, which Tom Benson also owned. The ownership of the team has long fought to dispel
that rumor, which can be seen in the slow methodical overhaul of the Pelicans with a complete
rebrand and even a recent arena remodel. Add in the aggressive offseason which most notably
saw the addition of DeMarcus Cousins and you can tell the late Mr. Benson had a vision for the
future, a vision that we hope to carry out in his legacy.
“It is my sincerest of hopes to fully carry out my late husband’s
dream of transforming this team into a powerhouse in the division,
and I hop e that we can show our commitment through our actions
this offseason.”
- Gayle Benson
About the Pelicans:
The New Orleans Pelicans are an NBA Franchise dedicated to not only on-court
excellence, but the best possible experience for the fan, as well. Under ownership of the
Benson family since 2012, the franchise has seen a new dawn, reaching the playoffs this year,
2018, and even winning a close game 1 thus far. The team plays in the recently renovated and
cutting-edge Smoothie King Center, where the input of our dedicated fans was followed closely
in order in bring the best out of our games.

2. Picture Cred:
Tom Benson - https://encrypted-
tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTnoZ4VkcuWsbA7NrpHoin-O-RIOmKmL0deta-M-
oWhAuTXMaTx
Logo - https://sportsfly.cbsistatic.com/fly-817/bundles/sportsmediacss/images/team-
logos/nba/alt/NO.svg
Anthony David & DeMarcus Cousins -
https://imagesvc.timeincapp.com/v3/fan/image?url=http://hoopshabit.com/wp-
content/uploads/getty-images/2018/01/910290670-chicago-bulls-vs-new-orleans-pelicans.jpg-
850x560.jpg&c=sc&w=590&h=389