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New Orleans Saints-Pelicans owner Gayle Benson and Gov. Jeff Landry are leaving this weekend. They have a big trip planned to New York next week.
During the two-day excursion, the powerful tandem will visit with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NBA commissioner Adam Silver to update them on the business affairs of Saints and Pelicans and to re-emphasize the state’s interest and readiness to host future Super Bowl and NBA All-Star Game.
The first stop will be Atlanta, where Benson and Landry will watch the Saints play their season finale against the arch-rival Falcons at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
From there, the power tandem will fly to New York, where they will meet Goodell at NFL headquarters in Manhattan to discuss, among other things, New Orleans’ hopes to bid on the 2031 Super Bowl. Because of protracted negotiations on the Saints’ lease agreement at the Superdome last fall, the city missed an NFL deadline to be placed on the shortlist of host sites for the game.
When Benson signed the new lease in October, she vowed to revisit the situation with Goodell and try to persuade him to allow New Orleans to re-enter the competition for the game, a process that would require approval of NFL owners.
The next three Super Bowls, in 2026, 2027 and 2028, have been awarded to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta, respectively. Las Vegas and Nashville are considered the favorites to host the 2029 and 2030 games.
New Orleans officials have targeted 2031 because conflicts with Mardi Gras and major conventions will prevent the city from hosting the game in other future years.
Goodell is aware of New Orleans’ plight but is making no promises, I’m told. As the commissioner of the world’s most powerful sports league, he has other mouths to feed, and the competition to host Super Bowls is more intense than ever, with new stadiums scheduled to come online soon in Nashville, Cleveland, Jacksonville and Washington, D.C.
By all accounts, New Orleans performed well as the host site for Super Bowl LIX last February. Goodell praised the city’s world-renowned hospitality, night life and joie de vivre throughout the week. Still, the NFL, as it often does, saw room for improvement.
The city’s inventory of high-end hotel room and luxury event space was found wanting, as was the airport’s capacity to handle the influx of out-of-town visitors.
To that end, Benson and Landry’s presentation will include updates on the city’s plan to expand and upgrade Louis Armstrong Airport and add two major downtown hotels: the 1,000-room Omni and 250-room Fairmont hotels.
“I think they're going to let us bid, even though we're coming in late,” Benson told me during an interview in November. “Our league meeting is in May (in Orlando, Florida, to discuss future Super Bowls). They like to (decide on) Super Bowls four years out.”
After meeting with Goodell, Benson and Landry will then visit Silver at NBA offices on Tuesday to document plans for a major renovation of the Smoothie King Center, the lynchpin for a long-term lease extension between the team and state. The project, which is still in the conceptual stage, would involve the transformation of Champions Square into a refurbished and reimagined entertainment district.
“The importance of the trip for the governor is that he wants to make sure the NFL commissioner clearly understands that he is the governor for crime fighting in this country and that he will continue to ensure that New Orleans is safe for major events,” said Shane Guidry, Landry’s advisor who has served as the state’s point person on negotiations with the Saints and Pelicans for new leases at the Superdome and Smoothie King Center.
“The governor is really busy, so that he has carved out time to meet with the NBA commissioner shows how important he thinks it is,” Guidry said. “The main thing is he understands the importance of economic development in the city and state.”
If New Orleans lands a future Super Bowl and NBA All-Star Game out of the trip, their investment of time and resources certainly will have been worthwhile.