Page Text: By Danae Columbus, opinion columnist |
March 24, 2022
New Orleans’ reputation as a world-class destination for sports tourism will be on full display next week (April 2-4) when thousands of fans and players descend upon the city for the 2022 Men’s Final Four in the Caesars Superdome. It will be the sixth time that the Men’s Final Four has been held in New Orleans. For more than 30 years, the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation has played a leadership role in coordinating the highly competitive bid processes that have led to more than 100 signature sporting competitions in the city. They have also worked seamlessly with various national governing bodies like the NCAA to execute these multi-million-dollar events, many of which draw television audiences in the millions.
“This year is extra special,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards at last month’s “Tip Off” press conference. “When you think about what we, in Louisiana, and what this city and region have gone through these past few years, through it all the NCAA has stuck with us.”
New Orleans had already hosted the Super Bowl several times when in 1987 former First NBC Bank president Ian Arnof approached the Young Leadership Council about the idea of a nonprofit sports commission aimed at developing New Orleans into a national leader in sport tourism.