During a ceremony in front of the arena, Morial looked at Foster and asked him to start communicating with owners of the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets in case they decided to flee their current homes.

"I think that was a good idea, that maybe the mayor and I can get together and work on that," Foster said later.

And if neither team wants to leave Texas, Foster said he would look into the city getting an NBA expansion team.

"Now that we've got the facility in place I think we can go out and trade a little bit," Foster said.

Landing either the Spurs or the Rockets could hinge on two local Texas issues on the state's Nov. 2 ballot.

Bexar County voters are deciding whether to increase hotel and car rental taxes to help fund a $175 million arena for the Spurs. The vote could determine whether the NBA champions remain in San Antonio or leave for another city offering a state-of-the-art building.

Harris County voters will decide a referendum on building a downtown arena for the Rockets.

When it was Morial's turn to speak at the ceremony, he made no surprise about what he thought the next step should be for the arena that will host the New Orleans Brass minor league hockey team, Tulane University basketball and numerous music events.

Morial focused on the elections in San Antonio and Houston and what it could mean for New Orleans.

"They're going to be voting to authorize new arenas in those cities," Morial said. "We're ahead of them. ... If those voters say no, Governor Foster, we need to be on the phone to the owners of the Spurs and the Rockets to tell them they don't have five years of construction to wait. We've got a brand new building right here in New Orleans that can be home to pro basketball in the NBA."

The Legislature voted to construct the arena with the backing of former Gov. Edwin Edwards during his last term.

"I think clearly the next thing for this arena would be a major league basketball team," Edwards said before the ceremony. "We mentioned the Spurs out of San Antonio. If the bond issue doesn't pass, they will be looking for another site. Not only that, you have expansion teams that will be coming up as the years unfold."

The Brass play their first home game in the 19,000 seat arena on Friday.

Twenty-seven of the 44 luxury suites, amenities considered necessary for any modern-day arena, have been sold at prices ranging from $25,500 to $33,000 a year.

Virtually all of the 1,400 club seats -- assigned prime seating which gives the owner first call on tickets to any event -- are gone at prices ranging from $375 to $475 a year.

Saints owner Tom Benson has the rights to an Arena Football League team that would use the arena, but indoor football will not start until 2001 at the earliest.

The NCAA already has scheduled the 2002 NCAA Women's Division I volleyball finals and the 2004 Division I women's basketball finals for the arena. The men's Final Four will be held in the Superdome in 2003. Also, a national gymnastics event is coming next year.