Pro sports in New Orleans received a major boost this week, including another potential Super Bowl.
Summit meetings between Saints-Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, Gov. Jeff Landry, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NBA commissioner Adam Silver greased the skids for a potential windfall for the city’s sports scene.
Among the results:
The NFL invited New Orleans to bid on Super Bowl 2031, an olive branch after the city missed the official deadline to submit its proposal last fall.
The endorsement of a potential major renovation of the Smoothie King Center that would include the transformation of the arena and Superdome area into a reimagined sports and entertainment complex.
A long-term commitment from Silver to New Orleans as an NBA city.
“We had a very positive and productive meeting, and I am thrilled that we will have the opportunity to bid on the 2031 Super Bowl,” Benson said.
The invitation to bid on the 2031 Super Bowl came after a meeting Tuesday with Goodell at NFL offices in New York.
The Saints had planned to submit New Orleans' bid for the 2031 game in September, when the league’s Engagement & Major Events Advisory Committee met to consider proposals for future Super Bowls. But the team was unable to do so because a lease extension with the state of Louisiana, which owns the Superdome, had not yet been finalized beyond 2030. As such, New Orleans wasn't on the original short list of potential host cities.
The Saints and the state reached a deal on a long-term lease extension for the Dome in November, clearing the way to be reconsidered for the Super Bowl.
“We appreciated the opportunity to meet with Gov. Landry and Mrs. Benson,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “It was a very productive meeting, and while our immediate focus is on the upcoming Super Bowls, we can confirm that New Orleans will be part of the consideration process for the Super Bowl to be played in 2031.”
The next three Super Bowls — next month and the 2027 and 2028 games — are scheduled for San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta, respectively. Las Vegas and Nashville, Tennessee, are considered the favorites to host the 2029 and 2030 games.
New Orleans officials have targeted the 2031 game because conflicts with Mardi Gras and convention schedules would likely prevent the city from hosting Super Bowls between 2032 and 2037, leaving 2038 as the next possible target year if 2031 stays off the table.
Denver; Cleveland; Jacksonville, Florida; and Washington, D.C., are expected to have new stadiums constructed in the next several years, which could potentially increase the competition for New Orleans to host Super Bowl LXV in 2031.
Owners are expected to have a full vote on the 2031 game sometime later this year.
“Louisiana has successfully hosted Super Bowls with our unparalleled hospitality,” Landry said. “The opportunity for Mrs. Benson and I to showcase all that Louisiana has going economically was an invaluable experience for our state. Given a chance, we look forward to rolling out the welcome mat once again.”
Super Bowl LIX, held in New Orleans last year, was the record-tying 11th Super Bowl hosted by the city and generated an estimated $1.25 billion in economic output in Louisiana, according to an LSU research study. That was more than double the previous time the game was held here, in 2013.
During postgame reviews, NFL officials expressed concern about the city’s relative lack of high-end hotel room inventory and luxury event space, along with Louis Armstrong International Airport’s capacity to handle the unprecedented influx of out-of-town visitors for the weekend.
To that end, Landry and Benson detailed plans for the expansion of Louis Armstrong and construction plans for new hotels that will eventually increase the city’s inventory to 45,000 rooms available in the metro area, with 27,000 rooms downtown.
“The Governor and I shared with Commissioner Goodell our plans not only for upgrading Champions Square and the Smoothie King Center, but also further renovations to the Caesars Superdome that are ongoing,” Benson said. “In addition, we showed the commissioner plans that are already underway for nearly $1 billion in hotel investment in the city; that includes the new Omni as well as many new renovations to existing hotels. We were also excited to share that the airport will be realizing nearly a billion dollars in major upgrades that include adding 15 new gates and access roads.”
The NFL meeting came one day after the New Orleans contingent, which included House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, and commissioner of administration Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, met with Silver to lay out plans to redevelop the Smoothie King Center and Superdome area into a sports and entertainment complex. Headlining the project would be a major renovation of the Smoothie King Center and a redesign of Champions Square and the surrounding area that includes the old New Orleans Center and Macy’s parking garage.
The plans, which have been in the works for more than a year, would be part of a long-term lease agreement between the Pelicans and the state at the Smoothie King Center, which opened in 1999 and is one of the oldest venues in the NBA.
“I am extremely grateful for Adam and the governor for having this meeting with me,” Benson said. “We had a very positive meeting. Gov. Landry shared with him the positive news on Louisiana’s tremendous growth in business and economic development. The commissioner acknowledged the need to have the Smoothie King Center upgraded, and Governor Landry was very open to what was discussed. We look forward to continuing with the due diligence on seeing this renovation get completed.”
The Pelicans' lease at Smoothie King Center expires in June 2029. The franchise is in the midst of its 24th season in the arena.
The master plan for a renovation of the arena, commissioned by the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, which oversees the arena’s operations for the state, would increase the seating capacity in the lower bowl of the arena and add more premium club seating, an important source of revenue for the Pelicans.
A 2024 feasibility study of the arena said the building’s sound and public address system — installed in 1999 — needs to be replaced; it said the video board hung above center court in 2016 should be upgraded within the next two years; and the three walk-in freezers, which were part of the building’s original construction, have reached the end of their usable life.
“We are so proud that New Orleans has both an NFL and NBA team, and the benefits of having both of these allow us to host events like Super Bowls and NBA All-Star Games,” Benson said. “We have proven that New Orleans is a big-league city, an NFL city and an NBA city. After spending time with both commissioners in the last two days, it is clear they are committed to New Orleans, as well.”