The City of New Orleans scored a major sports and economic development victory at the NFL Owners Association spring meeting on May 19 when Super Bowl XLVII (# 47) was awarded in a stiff competition between New Orleans, South Florida (Miami) and Phoenix. Three of the five members of the presenting team were Business Council members: Bob Brown, Ron Forman and Rod West. West had a particularly prominent role serving, along with Stephen Perry, President and CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, as one of the two team members allowed to speak during the fifteen minute presentation to the Owners Association and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Business Council member and Saints Executive Vice President, Rita Benson-LeBlanc, along with long-time Saints owner, Tom Benson, had taken a lead role over a very long period in providing their fellow team owners with ample information on the city’s superior capacity to host what will be a record-tying 10th Super Bowl.
The anticipated economic impact of the 2013 Super Bowl is more than $300 million.