The field was muddy. A wayward air balloon crashed into the stands. One of the players was linked to a gambling scandal.
But for nearly 81,000 people, none of that mattered. They were there for football. Even if the sky was overcast and the temperature at kickoff was around 40-degrees Fahrenheit, the fans had only one thing in mind: laissez les bons temps rouler—let the good times roll.
Caesars Superdome
Super Bowl IV took place in New Orleans in January 1970. It was the final championship game between the American Football League and the National Football League (NFL) before they merged to form a single league. It was also the first time the city played host to the event. Held in Tulane Stadium, fans saw the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Minnesota Vikings 23-7.
Miami previously held the last two Super Bowls, and the city was poised to get it again. But some team owners wanted the game to be held in an NFL team’s city. So, New Orleans was pitched, and the stadium’s seating capacity and the city’s accommodations sealed the deal.
It’s a similar pitch that has led New Orleans to host a record-tying (with Miami, of course) 11 Super Bowls when the next one takes place at the Caesars Superdome in February 2025. Time and time again, it’s the stadium’s capabilities and the city’s robust accommodations that cause it to be selected more often than other locations.
“There’s so much history here,” says Doug Thornton, executive vice president at ASM Global, which manages the Caesars Superdome. “The location is unique.”
Thornton says there are three big demand generators in New Orleans.
“One, the French Quarter, the reason people come to New Orleans. They’ve been coming here for 300 years,” he says. “The second is the convention center, a convention district, which is about a mile away. The third is this building.”
The Caesars Superdome is in the sports district, he says, while the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is in the convention district and the French Quarter is in the leisure district.
“But that golden triangle, those three demand generators who are within a short walk of each other, there’s 27,000 hotel rooms in between,” Thornton says. “That’s what makes us so unique as a destination city when it comes to sports and entertainment and why we hosted 11 Super Bowls and why we hosted multiple NCAA Final Fours and lots of big events. People can come here and walk about the city.”
The Caesars Superdome opened in 1975 and has played host to all types of events, public and private. It’s one of the NFL’s oldest venues, and at one time there was the idea of putting a retractable roof on it or even replacing the whole facility. But Hurricane Katrina scrapped those plans, damaging the venue so much that the New Orleans Saints had to play in San Antonio, Texas, during the 2005 season.
“Should we look at building a new stadium and replace this one?” Thornton says. “And we were actually studying that, and then I always say, ‘God did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves,’ and that’s forced us to get serious about the renovation. We had no choice. We had to repair and renovate.”
It reopened in 2006, but upgrades have continued. Over the last few years, the exterior aluminum siding was replaced, concourses were widened, new restrooms were added, elevators and escalators replaced ramps, a large food-service area was built and wireless access was upgraded.
All the renovations were done to create a better fan and event experience.
“You can have multiple events going on at the same time,” says Mike Hoss, manager of media relations for Caesars Superdome. “My daughter went to homecoming here. I was like, ‘What?! Homecoming?!’ Alright, so you have an event going on here, you have an event in one of the rooms, and you have an event on the floor at the same time.”
The Caesars Superdome’s flexible and massive space makes it ideal for groups of any size. It offers 80,000 square feet of event space and more than 165,000 square feet of exhibition space on the venue’s floor and in its main concourse.
Planners have several options in the stadium where they can have their events. There’s the 20,000-square-foot Plaza Atrium with its open-floor plan and skylight. There’s also the new, 18,000-square-foot Caesars Legends Lounge and the 3,985-square-foot Mercedes-Benz End Zone Club, ideal for a small meeting, seated dinner or VIP experience.
Convention center improvements
The Caesars Superdome isn’t the only facility in the city undergoing updates. The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center—home to the Super Bowl Experience—began a $557 million Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) in 2018 to renovate its meeting rooms and public spaces, implement new technology and develop a 39-acre, mixed-use neighborhood next to the convention center.
So far, completed CIP projects include a new, $65 million transportation hub and 7.5-acre pedestrian park, charging stations, new bathroom fixtures, LED lighting and 87 water bottle refill stations. The center has also added recycling and composting initiatives and the ability to host waste-free events.
“The Capital Improvement Plan will take our 1980s-designed venue and transform it into a modern, more competitive events and meetings powerhouse,” Michael J. Sawaya, president and CEO of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, said in a press release. “A large part of our transformative project is to honor our commitment of making sure this project is sustainably sourced and equitably built.”
The convention center’s $48 million roof replacement is also complete. This new, 40-acre “cool roof” reflects heat and includes added insulation to increase the venue’s energy savings. All past and planned improvements led to the center receiving a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification designation.
One of the things that the convention center doesn’t have that others around the world have is a headquarters hotel, one that is adjacent to the building. But that’s changing, because the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority accepted a letter of intent recently from Omni Hotels & Resorts to operate a 1,000-room hotel across the street from the convention center.
“When you walk out that door, look directly across the street, and that’s where it will be,” Sawaya said during a press briefing in October 2024. “We have purchased the land for that. It’s currently known as the Sugar Mill, and it’s in the warehouse district.”
Sawaya said it couldn’t be a better spot. There’s a park next to the location and a 1,000-space garage is already in existence across the street. The plan is for the Sugar Mill to operate through the Super Bowl, and then the convention center authority will take over the building. After demolition, design and development, the new Omni convention center hotel should open in 2029.
New Orleans is a continually evolving city. From Caesars Entertainment’s recent $435 million transformation of Harrah’s to Caesars New Orleans to the future mixed-use development of the River District to the opening of exciting restaurants featuring international dishes like Dakar NOLA, the city strives to keep itself one step ahead of other destinations.
“We really believe in investing and reinvesting,” Sawaya said. “We really believe that our future is bright, and maintaining our position as a world-class destination is key and critical for our city.”
This reinvesting shows that New Orleans is a city built to host events of any size, small and super.
Photos of Caesars Superdome and Caesars New Orleans courtesy New Orleans & Company.
