New Orleans's chances to host the 2031 Super Bowl have taken a major hit because the Saints and the state of Louisiana have not yet reached a new agreement for the team to lease the Superdome, but a Saints executive says, there's still a chance that Super Bowl can happen here.
Saints senior vice president Greg Bensel says that's because New Orleans wasn't in a position to put its name in the running for the 2031 championship game.
"The issue was our team lease runs through '30, and the next Super Bowl we can host is '31, so it kinda didn't make sense," Bensel said.
While Bensel admits that the city's attempt to lure the 2031 Super Bowl to New Orleans is "in jeopardy," he says the NFL owners may consider a New Orleans bid if the team and the state government sign a new Superdome lease agreement.
"The NFL wants to come back. Their big partners all want to come back to New Orleans," Bensel said. "I think Mrs. Benson and the Governor and Roger Goodell can come together and we can figure out how to get us back in the mix."
That's why the Saints and the state are working overtime to hammer out a new lease agreement for the team to play in the Superdome. Bensel says that agreement needs to be completed quickly if the city wants to have any chance to get back onto the 2031 Super Bowl shortlist.
"We don't have months and weeks to get back into the rotation to get us in a position where we will be allowed to bid," Bensel said. "A deal needs to be struck fairly soon--days if not a week or two."
According to Bensel, the parties are close to reaching an agreement, adding that the Saints and the state are "dotting 'i's" and "crossing 't's." Bensel also described the relationship between the Saints and the state government as "a partnership."
However, if the state and the Saints fail to sign a new lease deal, New Orleans would have to wait more than a decade to host the Super Bowl again.
"The next Super Bowl we would probably have an option to bid on would be somewhere in the late 2030s, 2038 probably," Bensel said.