In-Depth

Best Sports Business Cities: No. 24 — New Orleans

3.20.2023

No. 24: New Orleans

Score: 31.0

We heard it repeatedly: New Orleans is a great place to attend — and conduct business at — top-tier events, like the Allstate Sugar Bowl (played there since 1935); PGA Tour Zurich Classic of New Orleans (since 1958); New Orleans Saints games (1967); recent NBA All-Star and CFP championship games; and the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four.

Executives love the downtown, where Caesars Superdome (a $450 million renovation is underway in advance of Super Bowl LIX), Smoothie King Center and the Sun Belt Conference headquarters are a short distance from each other. But hotel rooms are expensive (an average of $176 per night) and the 18.2% room tax is second only to St. Louis among our top 50 markets.

Sponsors (2): New Orleans was home to the fewest sponsors of any major league market even before Smoothie King, which has naming rights to the Pelicans arena, moved to Dallas in 2018.

What they’re saying: “This could be the Super Bowl city every single year.” — D.B.

PREVIOUS Best Sports Business Cities: No. 23 — Austin NEXT Best Sports Business Cities: No. 25 — Orlando

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ADDITIONAL SECTIONS

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On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two Big Get interviews. The first is with Learfield's Cory Moss as he talks about his company’s collaboration on EA Sports College Football. Later in the show, we hear from MASN/ESPN baseball analyst Ben McDonald on how he sees the college and professional baseball scene shaking out. SBJ’s Adam Stern shares his thoughts on the upcoming Canelo-Mungia bout on Prime Video and DAZN.

SBJ I Factor: Molly Mazzolini

April 23, 2024

SBJ I Factor features an interview with Molly Mazzolini. Elevate's Senior Operating Advisor – Design + Strategic Alliances chats with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about the power of taking chances. Mazzolini is a member of the SBJ Game Changers Class of 2016. She shares stories of her career including co-founding sports design consultancy Infinite Scale career journey and how a chance encounter while working at a stationery store launched her career in the sports industry. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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Sports Media Podcast March 27 2024

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