University of the Incarnate Word Athletics

A longtime supporter of Incarnate Word and education as a whole, Tom Benson and his wife Gayle were among the moving influences behind initiation of the UIW football program. Ground was broken in April of 2007 for the Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium and field house on campus. The football Cardinals played their first game at Benson Stadium in August of 2009 and this fall will mark the fifth season of action for UIW.

In addition to the financial investment in Cardinals athletics the Benson family endowed the Tom Benson Chair of Banking and Finance at UIW back in 1985.

That same year Benson became the principal owner of the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints and in 2010 the club won its first world championship at Super Bowl XLIV. The Saints have established such a winning tradition that since 2006 the New Orleans Mercedes-Benz Superdome has been sold out with a season ticket waiting list of more than 73,000 fans.

Additionally the Benson organization now owns the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association, a purchase made in June of 2012.

The Benson family’s dedication to Greater New Orleans and to the Gulf South region is legendary particularly since 2005 when the area suffered through Hurricane Katrina. Since that time the Saints organization annually has infused more than $15 million into the region in the form of charitable contributions. Because of his efforts here Benson received the Volunteers of America Good Samaritan Award in Philanthropy.

Benson’s memberships in halls of fame are impressive. In addition to the UIW Athletic Hall of Fame, previously he has been inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame (2012), the Greater New Orleans chapter of the Achievement Business Hall of Fame (2013), the San Antonio Business Hall of Fame (2011), and the Texas Business Hall of Fame (2007).

In addition to his support of Incarnate Word Benson is an ardent backer of his own alma mater Loyola University in New Orleans, as well as San Antonio’s Central Catholic High School, New Orleans’ Brother Martin High School, and Tulane University.

In 2012 the Bensons received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Award from Pope Benedict XVI. That same year he was awarded an Oblate Doctor of Human Letters by the Catholic Church.