The Power of Sports on a City a Community

[NewsCopy]

 NEW ORLEANS -- There's jazz and jambalaya. Then there's football and Final Fours.

On the heels of the NFL's decision to award New Orleans the 2013 Super Bowl, tourism and economic development officials credited the sports industry -- as much as the city's world-renowned music and fine dining -- with leading the economic and psychological recovery from hurricane Katrina.

"This city, right now, is probably the single-best example of the power of sports as a corporate enterprise to actually go outside the boundaries of its own sector," said Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors' Bureau.

"Sports, in our recovery, may have been the single key element, because the highest-profile national events have either come here or committed here" since the storm hit in August 2005, Perry continued. "They've re-established us as a pre-eminent special-events city."

The rest of the story

[cajunhawk]

Wow... what a waste of Lousiana taxpayer money. Forced to spend money to ressurect a pit of a city. I wonder what kind of backdoor good ole boy Louisiana deals they made with the governor, the legislature, Benson, and the NFL to bring the super bowl back to the brand new "no slums left because they are all destroyed and we shipped out all the undesirables" city. I have written many letters to the governor, Blanco and Jindal about how this state wastes money on a sports franchise that does NO GOOD for this state. How much have the saints contributed to our poor,poor education system. How much have the aints contributed to the terrible road systems we have. How much have the Saints contributed to help the state of louisiana find another viable industry besides the god forsaken sin bin that is the oil industry. The saints are an embarrassment to the entire NFL, no other team gets subsidies fom their respective state, to my knowlege. Their owner is a awful man and everyone knows it but because they have a semi decent team its ok and we forgot all about him moving the team to San Antonio. And the most embarrassing part about the Saints organization is the city they play in and the pimple we call the Superdome. The state would be better off without a shadow of a doubt if the Saints packed up their bags and moved to Los Angeles. But everyone is just so blinded by how awesome Reggie Bush's commercials are, and how many yards Drew Brees has even though that lone playoff win is looking a little slim by today's standards. I personally, as a lifelong citizen of the state of Louisiana, would love, no be ecstatic if the Saints would be gone. Thats would be one less thing for the state to waste their money on instead of fixing this ass backwards state.

[LSUConnMan]

_ Wow... what a waste of Lousiana taxpayer money. Forced to spend money to ressurect a pit of a city. I wonder what kind of backdoor good ole boy Louisiana deals they made with the governor, the legislature, Benson, and the NFL to bring the super bowl back to the brand new "no slums left because they are all destroyed and we shipped out all the undesirables" city. ...

I have to assume from that incoherent rant, that you can't control the nonsense that exits your computer and finds its way to the internet. I'm not even sure how you can connect the ineptitude of the Saints in order to support an argument that bringing the SuperBowl to N.O. is somehow detrimental to the state.

Nobody tries to claim N.O. isn't the textbook definition of cesspool. I've been to more than a dozen countries and probably close to 100 cities...and N.O. is easily the one I hate the most. With that said, there's a lot of $$$ to be confiscated from tourists when the Super Bowl's in town. Benson may be a reprehensible person, but so are many successful entrepeneurs. Even if he was a great statesman, I'm not sure how that would affect the educational system...You might as well villainize him because the Louisiana National Guard can't buy enough armored vehicles next year.

[DrumRoll]

_ I have to assume from that incoherent rant, that you can't control the nonsense that exits your computer and finds its way to the internet. I'm not even sure how you can connect the ineptitude of the Saints in order to support an argument that bringing the SuperBowl to N.O. is somehow detrimental to the state.

Nobody tries to claim N.O. isn't the textbook definition of cesspool. I've been to more than a dozen countries and probably close to 100 cities...and N.O. is easily the one I hate the most. With that said, there's a lot of $$$ to be confiscated from tourists when the Super Bowl's in town. Benson may be a reprehensible person, but so are many successful entrepeneurs. Even if he was a great statesman, I'm not sure how that would affect the educational system...You might as well villainize him because the Louisiana National Guard can't buy enough armored vehicles next year. _

I am all for doing stuff, but is the stuff being done correctly? Is it well thought out? Is anyone monitoring implementation to make sure that all the promises and desired effects are delivered upon? As unplanned events occur (because they always do), are plans appropriately altered for maximum benefit?

The only side I am on in this debate, is the one that wants to see the right things done based on the best available information at the time the decision was made, and that the folks in charge keep their eye on the dang ball as things move forward :-)

YOU ALWAYS PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET, AND IF YOU ARE REALLY CAREFUL, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR...

[Asian_Cajun]

Wow... what a waste of Lousiana taxpayer money. .......

So, you are saying that when the Saint play in the dome, people don't go to the game and don't spend money on local business. Therefore, the city, parish and state don't get any tax? And leave my Aint alone.

[MakoMaker]

_ Wow... what a waste of Lousiana taxpayer money. Forced to spend money to ressurect a pit of a city. I wonder what kind of backdoor good ole boy Louisiana deals they made with the governor, the legislature, Benson, and the NFL to bring the super bowl back to the brand new "no slums left because they are all destroyed and we shipped out all the undesirables" city. I have written many letters to the governor, Blanco and Jindal about how this state wastes money on a sports franchise that does NO GOOD for this state. How much have the saints contributed to our poor,poor education system. How much have the aints contributed to the terrible road systems we have. How much have the Saints contributed to help the state of louisiana find another viable industry besides the god forsaken sin bin that is the oil industry. The saints are an embarrassment to the entire NFL, no other team gets subsidies fom their respective state, to my knowlege. Their owner is a awful man and everyone knows it but because they have a semi decent team its ok and we forgot all about him moving the team to San Antonio. And the most embarrassing part about the Saints organization is the city they play in and the pimple we call the Superdome. The state would be better off without a shadow of a doubt if the Saints packed up their bags and moved to Los Angeles. But everyone is just so blinded by how awesome Reggie Bush's commercials are, and how many yards Drew Brees has even though that lone playoff win is looking a little slim by today's standards. I personally, as a lifelong citizen of the state of Louisiana, would love, no be ecstatic if the Saints would be gone. Thats would be one less thing for the state to waste their money on instead of fixing this ass backwards state. _

dont know why I'm surprised at some of the idiocy out there

[Cajun90]

The saints are an embarrassment to the entire NFL, no other team gets subsidies fom their respective state, to my knowlege.

Almost every pro sports franchise gets some form of subsidy from government. They all do it in different ways but you would be hard pressed to find one that isn't.

[Zeebart21]

The Power of Sports on a City

[Just1More]

We need to eliminate all professional and collegiate sports organizations in the state except for LSU, and just let LSU represent everyone in the state in everything.

[RCAJUN90]

_ We need to eliminate all professional and collegiate sports organizations in the state except for LSU, and just let LSU represent everyone in the state in everything. _

STONE THE BALSPHEMER!!! LOL! We need the Saints from Shreveport to Lake Charles from Lafayette to New Orleans. I don't understand how folks don't get that. Also for you NOLA haters know that 75% of the states revenue from taxes came from NOLA but that was before Katrina. I'm not sure what it is today. Even if it is less you could come to the understanding that investing in NOLA is a good bet for the entire state not to mention it is the right thing to do.

With a rocking sports program at UL, Lafayette would be extremely attractive to college kids. Even without that kids I know go to avoid living in Baton Rouge for four years. On that I think we will all agree.