New Orleans has been front and center nationwide during the leadup to the Super Bowl and during the big game itself. While the Crescent City may be used to having the eyes of the nation on it, as this is the record-tying 11th time the big game has been held here. However, there was extra security and a bit of extra anxiety in the air leading up to the event following the terror attack on New Year’s Eve. Mark Romig, Sr. Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of New Orleans & Company was quick to praise the hard work of a massive amount of volunteers who helped pull the event together with WWL’s own Tommy Tucker. “The big thanks goes to the the 2,4,5 thousand or so volunteers who all came together to make this happen,” Romig pointed out. “Early in the process, volunteers from around the region were solicited to be assistants and helpers and they were all along town this week,” adds Romig.
The baton to host the big game will now be passed along to the city of San Francisco in a ceremony all its own. “The handoff press conference happens today where we hand the ball over to the San Franciso bay area where they will host SB LX next year. Everyone is in great spirits and the NFL Commissioner said some of the San Francisco folks are a little nervous after seeing what we pulled off here in New Orleans, but I’m sure they’ll do a great job,” Romig explains. He goes on to add, “The pageantry was there for the big game and the Caesar’s Superdome has never looked better on a national broadcast.”
With the biggest sporting event in America now in the rear-view mirror, Romig says all eyes now turn to the future in the city. “We have a convention center hotel that was recently announced. The Omni will be developing a hotel across from the Convention Center, which is very important to have an anchor property attached. That’s coming online and will help us compete with future events even more. And, of course, all the retail and upgrades to the upriver side of the Convention Center will also build more venue space and opportunity for big events in the future,” Romig notes.
When it comes to the future of hosting Super Bowls in New Orleans, Romig says the process is already under way. “There’s a very careful coordination of schedules, particularly here in New Orleans between January and February to make sure there isn’t any disruption to the Mardi Gras dates and that iconic celebration. We also don’t want to disrupt any major conventions that may be coming to the city. So, we weigh all that and choose which years make sense for us to approach the NFL to say when we’re available. Those discussions are on a regular basis.
