New Orleans host committee doing its thing at Super Bowl

The Kansas City Chiefs are in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five seasons. They’re trying to win their third championship in that time, their second consecutive and their fourth overall in six all-time appearances.

The San Francisco 49ers are making their second appearance in the last five seasons and are seeking their fifth championship in eight all-time appearances.

But there’s a group in Las Vegas this week that has even more Super Bowl experience than the two teams that will compete inside Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.

It’s the New Orleans Super Bowl LIX Host Committee, which is preparing conduct the 11th Super Bowl in the Crescent City next year.

“Our theme is, ‘It’s what we do,’” President and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation Jay Cicero said. “That’s something we want to emphasize. It’s a natural thing. Super Bowl is what we do, which is true.”

Over the course of this week about 85 members of New Orleans’ team will visit the Las Vegas operation. That includes representatives of Caesars Superdome management, the Crescent City’s convention and visitors bureau, staff of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the host committee’s media and public relations committee, New Orleans Major Latoya Cantrell’s office and Louisiana Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser’s office.

“Everybody is observing and learning and taking it in as much as they possibly can,” Cicero said, “trying to figure out how it’s going to relate to New Orleans or not relate to New Orleans.

“Part of the mission on this site visit is to not only learn how much the event has grown, but what works and sometimes more importantly what doesn’t work.”

As for the growth, the number of media members covering the event has ballooned to 6,000, the NFL’s hospitality needs have grown and the “space requirements are just off the charts.”

Las Vegas is hosting the event for the first time – 54 years and one month after New Orleans hosted for the first time.

“I’m sure it won’t be the last (Super Bowl in Las Vegas),” Cicero said, “but we’ve got a 54-year head-start.”

The Crescent City’s lengthy history with the Super Bowl can be illustrated in a number of ways, one of which is that two teams with fairly lengthy Super Bowl histories such as the Chiefs and 49ers were bound to have popped up in New Orleans at some point.

The Chiefs won that first Super Bowl in the Crescent City, participating as the last active representative of the American Football League in upsetting the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in Tulane Stadium.

The 49ers lost the most recent Super Bowl in New Orleans, falling to the Baltimore Ravens (34-31) 11 years ago, in addition to defeating the Denver Broncos 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIV.

The host committee’s main base is its booth in the media center that’s designed to look like the French Quarter and, as Cicero said, “capture the culture of New Orleans and the history of hosting 10 previous Super Bowls.”

The committee has been distributing examples of Louisiana delicacies while highlights of the previous Crescent City bowls are shown on televisions and examples of the ticket designs, program cover artwork and logos of each event are displayed to remind visitors of New Orleans’ legacy.

“We’re promoting the best things about New Orleans,” Cicero said. “Our strengths are the culture and the history of Super Bowls in New Orleans and that’s what we’re here promoting to the media and hopefully to the world.”

On Monday before heading home, the New Orleans delegation, led by New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson will participate in a “handoff ceremony” accepting the transfer of the Super Bowl host’s role from the folks in Las Vegas.

Then it will be 363 days until the Super Bowl kicks off inside the Superdome (on February 9, 2025) as San Francisco (2026) and Los Angeles (2027) await their forthcoming opportunities.

Sometime along the way the Crescent City will begin its pursuit of its 12th Super Bowl – presumably not terribly far down the road.