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 Superdome
New Orleans, LA
Each year one of the biggest games in college
football, the Sugar Bowl comes to New Orleans' Superdome. The history
of this stadium dates back to the mid 1960’s when New Orleans
businessman Dave Dixon envisioned a dome stadium that could bring a
football team to the area. In 1966, his vision became a reality after
much discussion and planning, the Louisiana Legislature passed a bill
that allowed the stadium to be built. After reaching an agreement to
build a stadium, the NFL awarded the area a team, the New Orleans
Saints. Construction began in August of 1971, and was completed by
August 1975. The dome stadium was named the Louisiana Superdome,
because of its massive size. The Superdome covers 13 acres and is 27
stories tall. From the outside it looks like a massive spaceship.
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Opening day for the Saints at the Superdome was
on September 28, 1975. Almost 70,000 multicolored seats in three
tiers circle the entire field at the Superdome. Every seat next to
another one is a different color, making it look like their are
more people at games than there really are. Several
video/scoreboards are located inside the Superdome. During the
summer of 1996, the Superdome underwent $22.8 million in
renovations including, a new entrance lobby and ticket offices, an
additional concourse serving the upper level seats,
refurbished ballrooms, additional
accommodations for the disabled, and upgraded safety and security
equipment. After the 2002 season the Astroturf playing field was
replaced with Fieldturf.
In August 2005, the Superdome
was the shelter for more than 30,000 residents during Hurricane
Katrina. The hurricane sheared away much of the roof's covering
and water leaked into the stadium as it was used as a shelter for
thousands of stranded residents. The Superdome sustained $185.4
million in damage and the New Orleans Saints played their 2005
home games in San Antonio at the Alamodome and in Baton
Rouge at Tiger
Stadium. In January 2006 work began to clean up and renovate the
Superdome. Nearly
4,000 tons of trash and debris was removed, along with 1.6 million
square feet of wrecked carpeting, 650,000 square feet of wall
board and 500,000 square feet of ceiling tiles. About 70,000 seats
were cleaned as crews have been repairing the roof.
The 30 year old stadium’s three-level seating plan will be the
same, with the most noticeable difference being a thin video
board, called a ribbon board, replacing the facade of the upper
deck. Scoreboard video screens behind each end zone will be
enlarged.
The New Orleans Saints played their first game in the city since
2004 on September 24, 2006 against the Atlanta Falcons.
The 2006 Sugar Bowl was played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta
because of hurricane damage. In 2008, the Superdome will host the
Allstate Sugar Bowl and the Allstate BCS Championship Game.
Find hotels for college bowl games
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