New Orleans’ chances of hosting the Super Bowl in 2031 are in serious jeopardy. The team has missed a key deadline to bid on hosting the game that year, which is the earliest that the Super Bowl can return to the city – sites for the next three Super Bowls have already been established, and the Super Bowl in 2030 conflicts with Mardi Gras. Greg Bensel with the Saints says the big holdup has been the ongoing negotiations on a lease extension for the state-owned Superdome.
“We’re just working on a deal that will be best for the state and the team, so that everyone benefits in the long run. I think that’s where we are, and I think a deal is very close,” Bensel said.
The reason the team needs to resolve the lease before bidding on the Super Bowl is that the current lease expires at the end of 2030, Bensel says it would be in everyone’s best interest to get a deal done, since the partnership has been, in every way, a public-private one.
“Mrs. Benson has given $180 million toward the renovation of the Superdome, and so we are and remain and will be great partners for the state,” Bensel said.
Bensel says it’s of utmost importance for New Orleans to land the Super Bowl in 2031. He says if it doesn’t, it will be a very long time before the game can come back to the city.
“The next Super Bowl that we would probably have an option to bid on would be somewhere in the late 2030s, 2038, probably,” Bensel said.
