Did the Mayor of New Orleans Talk to the NFL?

SoFLPhillyFan

The thread about the new gambling movie reminded me about a question I had yesterday.

I'm living in Northwest Florida for work and tied into the Hurricane Katrina/New Orleans rebuilding effort. Listen to the NOLA radio station to get the latest news on what is happening there.

Yesterday the Mayor of NOLA made a surprise announcement that he wants to convert about six major hotels in town to casinos. They already have a couple of small casinos, with more in Baton Rouge. This plan will make two streets a gambling district.

Do you think he considered how the NFL and NBA feel about sports in major gambling cities? They try to stay away from Las Vegas as much as possible.

Will the NFL be willing to give the Super Bowl to NOLA again?

Did he even ask?

Axtell

Well it's no secret the owner of the saints wants to move the team...and with the superdome needing $100 million + in repairs, probably will just be torn down.

NO needs a major influx of tourists as soon as possible, to generate jobs and revenue for the city. Bringing casinos to a hot spot like NO would be cause for people who might normally choose Vegas or Atlantic City, now gives them another destination, something different than the typical gambling experience.

Doesn't the WNBA have their Connecticut team playing on an Indian Gaming Reservation?

Not sure what the NFL and NBA could do if there are some casinos in NO.

SoFLPhillyFan

The leagues are very sensitive about playing where there is a large gamblimg presence.

Some thought has been given in the past about putting teams in Vegas or playing games there. The leagues decided against it.

stevek

I'm not sure how the NFL feels about it, but this mayor is like in a state of shock regarding his city. All that gambling is going to do is cannibalize money from the local citizens, as gambling does this almost everywhere else. New Orleans as a tourist destination for the forseable future is over. I mean really...who is going to plan a vacation to New Orleans? And gambling is "everywhere" now. Even Steve Wynn in a recent interview said that gambling was 5th on the list of reasons for him building that new elaborate hotel in Las Vegas. In this day & age of rampant gambling everywhere, a tourist needs more to go to when traveling somewhere for a vacation than just gambling - Wynn realizes this - the New Orleans mayor does not.