Why Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans could be the best yet

I went to New Orleans. I want to go to New Orleans again. I will never not want to go to New Orleans again. Everybody should go to New Orleans, all the time. The NFL should go… I heard February is good.

It is the trendy grandparent to whom you skip joyously, lifted by the parent-reassuring knowledge you shall never leave unfed, unnurtured, unloved or unfussed over, the quintessential host of all hosts teasing a premium food cupboard, an unlimited catalogue of stories, one of the world's most prestigious jukeboxes and a conversation-driving football obsession befitting of its dwarfing centrepiece.

"We like to refer to the Superdome as the living room of New Orleans. This building has become the social fabric of New Orleans," says Doug Thornton, the executive vice president of arena, stadium and theater at ASM Global.

NOLA will play host to the biggest sporting celebration on earth for a record-tying 11th time in February when the Super Bowl returns to town and, for the eighth time, to the Superdome. Where others might be gearing up to roll out the red carpet as they welcome the world to their shores, New Orleans abides by a 'stays ready' mantra.

For there may be no city prouder of its identity, nor a city more privy to new visitors, nor a city more in-tune to the romanticism of football and its ability to shatter boundaries as not only a Lombardi-driven duel of Xs and Os but a beacon and tool for unity, change and representation.

"It's the Super Bowl of Super Bowls," says Michael Sawaya, President and CEO of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

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The word 'encore' has no meaning in a city where the festivities never quite come to a conclusive halt, a revolving door of globe-trotting guests feeding the greatest party in America and contributing to a blend of communities, culture and chronicles like no other.

"We had Taylor Swift recently, it highlighted that if you really want an event that brings people together in one place, one time where you feel connected with each and every person you are celebrating with, there isn't a better place because of the way things are laid out and the way the community embraces it," says Walt Leger, President and CEO of New Orleans & Company.

"If you are here for an event, you know you are here for an event. There is no escaping it."

The NFL's showpiece climax will serve as the backdrop to a parade of diversity, authenticity, vibrancy and resiliency, from the city's rich musical history, gumbo-enthused cuisine and Mardi Gras-encapsulated colour to the community's defiance after hoisting itself off the canvas to thrive once more in the wake of Hurricane Katrina almost a decade ago.

Irish Saints kicker Charlie Smyth, still relatively new to Louisiana himself, goes as far as suggesting New Orleans feels 'like a completely separate country' such is its unique makeup. Hard to disagree.

For a week in November the city opened its doors to Sky Sports NFL as it showcased its preparations for February's season finale. With each day emerged a new prospective story angle, fresh strand after fresh strand to a location that requires little selling for those fortunate enough to experience it.

A stadium tour would amplify the deafening might of the 83,000-seat Superdome as it approaches its 50th anniversary following $550m of renovations; the 1.1m square foot New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center - the sixth-largest of its kind in the US - would present the perfect office-meets-amphitheatre for the NFL fan experience and 6,000 credential media during Super Bowl week amid its own $557m renovation; a two-mile triangle consisting of 26,000 hotel rooms between the Superdome, convention center and French Quarter would outline the city's walk-everywhere convenience; the 1,300-acre New Orleans City Park would serve as a blissful source of fresh air and respite for those that might seek a momentary break from the NOLA noise and bustle. And at the Caesars Hotel and Casino glistens a sports fan's definition of heaven in the form of a 147-foot Sportsbook video screen, displaying every major league's live games simultaneously.

Weaved within an all-encompassing tour across five days also came enough servings of gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish and bread pudding to last your average British journalist until the Super Bowl in February. That included a visit to Senegalese restaurant Dakar, where the artistry of Chef Serigne Mbaye would introduce us to west African dining traditions while paying homage to the role of African settlers in the 18th century and their knowledge of how to grow food in water that now lies at the heart of Louisianan rice production.

That means nothing about the Super Bowl, until you realise it means everything. It is all part of the New Orleans welcome. Football is a whole lot more fun when you are made to feel at home.

Sure, it was a little about the infrastructure. A lot about the world-class food. But ultimately, it was about the people, who made and continue to make the city a bucket list destination.

It is the street performer who swiftly improvised to play 'Rule, Britannia!' on his trumpet in jest upon learning the couple walking beside him were British following a New Orleans Pelicans NBA game. It is the Uber driver who passionately rapped word-for-word to Eazy-E while taking me along Canal Street after dinner; you would not dare interrupt him. It is the group of young men tap-dancing down the iconic Bourbon Street, which deserves a separate eulogy - maybe even study - of its own as a beautifully chaotic Pick n Mix (or Penny Candy) of jazz, Irish, rock, hip hop and Afrohall bars and clubs.

Locals rarely leave New Orleans to relocate. If they do, you can bank on them returning.

Kelly Schultz, senior vice president of communications and PR and New Orleans & Company, recalled how she moved back to the city from Dallas in the wake of Katrina after feeling a 'responsibility' to help the community rebuild. A lady by the name of Rose, excited to hear I was from the UK, relayed a similar story of how she had briefly lived in High Wycombe before returning to NOLA to support the recovery effort.

And on the Saturday we were introduced to local storyteller Denise Augustine, a NOLA treasure and infectious beacon of the city itself. She had the group on strings as she detailed the role of Sicilians in importing citrus in the 1830s, as she detailed how founder Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville fell in love with the crescent in the Mississippi River along which New Orleans was then purposely built, as she detailed how the Spanish rebuilt the city after great fires in 1788 and 1794, pacing left-to-right endearingly thrilled to be telling a no-stone-unturned story of her home.

"We never look for easy, we look for the most beautiful, that's why this is where we decided to build New Orleans," she said.

"This is our love language, our job is to make sure you never forget us. While we're here, we'll treat you like family," she added.

At the beginning of the week we had been encouraged by Kennedy Smith, Vice President of Marketing at Caesars New Orleans, to meet and speak with as many locals as possible: "what differentiates us is the people, the soul and the resilience."

Augustine was the embodiment of New Orleans and the family energy that awaits thousands of travelling fans come February. Ever seen those goosebump-inciting John Malkovich NFL commercial speeches, selling the story of David versus Goliath to an orchestral backdrop and taking centre stage at the Rome Colosseum? Broadcast crews would be wise to snap up Augustine for their own New Orleans version.

Everything is purposeful, everything is designed to not only elevate the fan experience but to serve the city and communities preparing to invite the Super Bowl to their backyard. For the first time ever, this year the NFL partnered with a local artist to design the unique Super Bowl LIX logo, with Tahj Williams - the queen of her Black Masking Indian tribe - sewing the logo bead by bead onto a canvas frame in a similar manner to how she would create her Black Masking Indian suit.

"Diversity is our first name, we will use it to make the finest culture and traditions no other city has, it's the reason we feel different," Augustine said during the week.

Two weeks after the Super Bowl New Orleans will also play host to the HBCU Legacy Bowl, an annual all-star game designed to shine a spotlight on NFL prospects from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The biggest game of the year will come and go, but the city's commitment to diversity will remain prevalent well beyond it.

"It's critical to the city and to those players because it's part of a commitment we have to making sure talent gets an opportunity to be seen," said Marcus Brown, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Entergy Chair of the 2025 Super Bowl Host Committee.

"A lot of the players from HBCUs don't get invited to the NFL combine, they created an all-star game for those athletes and they get a chance. They bring in coaches, scouts and those kids get a chance to be seen. It is a great story and programme and it's testament to the partnership between the city and state."

Michael Hecht, President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc, describes the Super Bowl as 'an audition to the world' as the city seeks to ensure events continue to visit for the next decade and beyond.

With the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 came the PR challenge of convincing events and people to return to New Orleans. The Super Bowl poses as both a festival of sport but so too a window into the work that has gone into rebuilding and advancing the city.

Significant sums of money have been distributed across 10 parishes to support the respective community efforts, while the game's arrival has allowed the city to work on more than 500 projects, including simple tasks like the repaving of Poydras Street.

A $16b investment in state of the art hurricane protection has meanwhile transformed New Orleans into one of the most flood-safe areas on the planet.

"It's important to transcend the week of the game," said Hecht. "It gives us a chance to tell stories about resilience; if Katrina were to hit tomorrow we would be bone dry.

"It also allows us to tell economic stories, the biggest rocket in human history is being built now in New Orleans and will send the first African American to the moon, we are building the newest state of the art port in America.

"Louisiana is now also becoming the national and international leader in clean energy, we are building wind turbines for the rest of the country, we are becoming a leader in hydrogen and bio fuel and battery technology."

They are viewing the Super Bowl as a 'mini Olympics' such is the ability it offers New Orleans to strengthen its infrastructure, its economy and its communities once more.

And with the building of the largest rocket in history is a glorious lay-up to suggest NOLA is taking the Super Bowl experience and value to fresh heights.

There is a year-round Christmas shop named Santa's Quarters down Decatur Street, there is the Vampire Cafe down Royal Street, there are the red Canal Streetcars that have you feeling like a character in a movie and there is music, there is always music. Often you need not add in background jazz or hip hop tracks to your Tik Tok and Instagram videos, for it follows you around the city.

"We are so proud," said New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson. "We are coming together to show the NFL, our visitors, our country and the world why New Orleans is always chosen to host this incredible event."

"There is no better place to live, work or visit than right here."

New Orleans is brimming with personality and charisma and enthusiasm, beckoning as a cannot-miss cauldron of Super Bowl magic. Go once, and there is a strong chance it will never just be once.

Watch every game of the NFL playoffs throughout January followed by Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday February 9, live on Sky Sports NFL.