Truly a sign that New Orleans is back.
Via Saints Beat
When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Tuesday that New Orleans was back in the business of hosting Super Bowls, the contingent of sports executives and business leaders who had worked for the past year to snag the country’s premier sports event hugged, smiled and congratulated one another.
Saints owner Tom Benson did them all one better: He leaped about “four feet” in the air.
New Orleans hasn’t hosted the championship game since 2002, when the New England Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams on a last-second field goal.
Ever since the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation submitted its bid in March to play host to Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3, 2013, New Orleans has been considered a sentimental favorite.
And when the Saints and state of Louisiana reached agreement on a long-term lease deal that would keep the Saints playing at the Superdome through 2025 and provide an $85 million renovation to the Dome, New Orleans was viewed as an outright favorite.