The New Orleans Saints and the city of New Orleans missed the first part of the bid process to host the NFL Super Bowl in 2031.
Sources confirm to WDSU, the potential loss of one of the world’s biggest sporting events is because the Saints and state do not have a long-term lease agreement.
The state of Louisiana owns and operates the Caesars Superdome, and the Saints are the building’s primary tenant, but because a lease between the two isn’t finalized, a bid to host a future Super Bowl could not be submitted today at the NFL fall meetings in New York City.
The current lease agreement ends in 2030.
“The Super Bowl committee met and our city (New Orleans) cannot advance as an option to bid on future Super Bowl games right now due to the fact that our lease extension has not been signed,” Saints Senior Vice President Greg Bensel told WDSU via text message.
NFL sources tell WDSU that if a deal is agreed upon soon, New Orleans could re-emerge as a potential host city in 2031.
If New Orleans does not land the 2031 Super Bowl, the next time they’d be able to bid on the game would be 2033.
Because of the Mardi Gras date for 2032, New Orleans can’t bid on the game that year.
Super Bowl LIX was held in New Orleans earlier this year and had an economic impact of more than 1 billion dollars into our state.
The next three cities hosting the big game are: San Francisco, Los Angles and Atlanta.
Las Vegas and Nashville are the projected hosts cities in 2029 and 2030.
Denver and Washington, D.C. have new stadiums coming on line over the next 5-6 years, so they could also be in the mix, potentially with New Orleans to host Super Bowl LXV in 2031.
READ MORE:Details on why New Orleans is not being considered right now for Super Bowl LXV in 2031
