Top facts about Caesars Superdome, One of the Biggest Domed Stadiums
We are going to share a summary of what we know about this venue regarding its history, the events and games it has hosted, the structure itself, and much more.
The Caesars Superdome (previously the Louisiana Superdome and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, commonly known simply as the Superdome) is a multi-purpose stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana's Central Business District. It is the home stadium of the National Football League's New Orleans Saints (NFL).
Curtis and Davis, a New Orleans modernist architectural firm, drew up the plans in 1967, and the Louisiana Superdome opened in 1975. The steel frame spans 13 acres (5.3 hectares), and the 273-foot (83-meter) dome is composed of a lamellar multi-ringed frame with a diameter of 680 feet (207 meters), making it the world's largest stationary domed structure, one of the Top facts about Caesars Superdome.
The Superdome has often hosted significant sporting events, including seven Super Bowl games (and the eighth, Super Bowl LIX, in 2025) and five NCAA men's college basketball finals. Since 1975, the Sugar Bowl has been held at the Superdome, and it is one of the "New Year's Six" bowl games of the College Football Playoff (CFP).
The Bayou Classic, a rivalry game between HBCUs Southern University and Grambling State University, is held here every year. The Tulane Green Wave football team played their home games at the Superdome until 2014 (when they moved to Yulman Stadium on campus), while the New Orleans Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) played their home games there from 1975 to 1979.
Thousands of people sought shelter at the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storm caused considerable damage to the structure, which forced it to close for several months, another one of the Top facts about Caesars Superdome. The building was eventually determined to be fully renovated and reopened in time for the Saints' home opener on September 25, 2006.
Discussing the Top facts about Caesars Superdome
In this article, you will find the majority of the important information about this multi-purpose venue.
Caesars Superdome History and Renovations
While attempting to persuade the NFL to offer New Orleans a franchise, sports visionary David Dixon (who eventually formed the United States Football League) dreamt of the Superdome.
Dixon was advised by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle that the NFL would never expand into New Orleans without a domed stadium after playing several exhibition games at Tulane Stadium under typical New Orleans summer rains.
Dixon then gained the support of Louisiana Governor John McKeithen. McKeithen was quoted as saying, "I want one of these, only bigger," when they saw the Astrodome in Houston, Texas in 1966.
On November 8, 1966, seven days after Commissioner Pete Rozelle awarded New Orleans the 25th professional football franchise, bonds were passed for the construction of the Superdome.
One of the
Top facts about Caesars Superdome
is that the stadium was designed to be a multipurpose facility for football, baseball, and basketball, with moveable field level stands that could be arranged specifically for each sport, areas with dirt (for the bases and pitchers mound) covered with metal plates on the stadium floor (during football games, they were covered by artificial turf), and meeting rooms that could be rented for a variety of purposes.
Dixon proposed that the synthetic pitch be white and that simultaneous high school football games be held side by side. The stadium was built by Blount International of Montgomery, Alabama.
Various individuals created bizarre versions of the dome while it was being built: one was made of sugar, while another was made of coins.
The "penny model" was displayed at the 1976 Philadelphia Bicentennial Exhibition. Norman J. Kientz, a New Orleanian, made the model out of 2,697 pennies and submitted it to the Superdome Board of Commissioners in April 1974.
The stadium was expected to be completed in time for the 1972 NFL season, and the total cost of the project was estimated to be $46 million.
Construction did not begin until August 11, 1971, and was not completed until August 1975, seven months after Super Bowl IX was planned to be held in the stadium, due to political delays.
The game had to be relocated to Tulane Stadium since the stadium was not ready in time for the Super Bowl, and it was played in cold and rainy weather.
After accounting for inflation, building delays, and increased transportation expenses as a result of the 1973 oil crisis, the stadium's total cost soared to $165 million, another one of the Top facts about Caesars Superdome.
Elward Thomas Brady, Jr., a state representative from Terrebonne Parish and a New Orleans resident, investigated probable financial violations with the help of the state police, but the Superdome proceeded forward despite the setbacks.
The Superdome hosted the first regular-season game of the 1975 NFL season, in which the New Orleans Saints lost 21–0 to the Cincinnati Bengals.
On the day the Superdome opened, Tulane Stadium, the Saints' former home, was scheduled for demolition. Super Bowl XII, the first Super Bowl in prime time, was held in the stadium in January 1978.
The original artificial turf playing field in the Superdome, dubbed "Mardi Grass," was created and developed specifically for the Superdome by Monsanto (the company that created the first artificial playing surface for sports, AstroTurf).
On November 16, 2003, the Superdome switched from a first-generation "Mardi Grass" field to a next-generation FieldTurf surface in the middle of the 2003 football season.
On July 27, 2012, a statue was unveiled close to the Superdome in a plaza. The artwork, titled Rebirth, portrays one of the most famous Saints plays: Steve Gleason's block of a Michael Koenen punt, which the Saints recovered for a touchdown early in the first quarter of the team's first post-Katrina game in the Superdome.
On February 3, 2013, the Superdome hosted the Super Bowl XLVII football game.
The game between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers was paused for around 34 minutes in the third quarter due to a partial power failure, one of the Top facts about Caesars Superdome.
CBS, which was broadcasting the game, lost part of its cameras as well as announcers Jim Nantz and Phil Simms' voiceovers.
The game did not go off the air at any point, though it did go silent for around two minutes.
While the lights were being turned back on, sideline reporter Steve Tasker covered the outage as a breaking news story until the electricity was restored sufficiently for the game to resume.
The malfunction was reported on February 8, 2013, as being caused by a relay device designed to avoid an electrical overload.
The device was discovered in an electrical vault owned and maintained by Entergy, the New Orleans area's electrical provider.
The Superdome is about a quarter-mile away from that vault. An independent auditor's assessment later confirmed that the relay device was to blame. The electricity system of the Superdome was never jeopardized.
The smaller video boards that were formerly installed along the end zone walls above the upper seating bowl were replaced during the 2016 off-season with two massive Panasonic HD LED screens that stretch 330 feet (100 m) wide and 35 feet (11 m) tall and are considerably easier to see across the bowl.
The Superdome's interior floodlighting system was also upgraded to an efficient LED system with programmable coloring, light show effects, and quick on-off; in normal mode, the stadium would have a more colorful and naturally pleasing system that resembles natural daylight.
The Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, often known as the Superdome Commission, authorized phase one plans for a $450 million makeover in November 2019.
Trahan Architects would design atriums to replace the ramp system, enhanced concourses, and field-level end zone boxes as part of the redevelopment.
Installation of alternative exits and the construction of a big kitchen and food-service area are part of the first phase of development, which began in January 2020.
Caesars Superdome Concerts
The Superdome continued to celebrate its grand opening between August 28 and September 14, 1975, with appearances by Bob Hope, Chayl Jhuren, Telly Savalas, Dorothy Lamour, Karen Valentine, and Raquel Welch.
The Allman Brothers Band, Wet Willie, Charlie Daniels' band, the O'Jays, the Isley Brothers, the Temptations, Donald Byrd and the Blackbyrds, and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus all performed.
June Carter, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, and Jessi Colter performed in the Dome on October 3, 1975.
Governor Edwin Edwards, his wife Elaine, their children Anna, Victoria, Steven, and David, as well as Edwards' grandchildren, were among the crowd.
The Emotions and Deniece Williams opened the 1977 New Year's Eve festivities in the Superdome, followed by Earth, Wind, and Fire.
Aretha Franklin, Al Green, The Spinners, and The Mighty Clouds of Joy performed at the First Annual Superdome KOOL Jazz Spectacular on May 29, 1977. The guest M.C. was Jimmie "J.J." Walker from the TV show Good Times.
The Endymion Extravaganza, the Krewe of Endymion's Mardi Gras ball and concert, has been held at the Superdome since 1981. It is customarily held at the end of the krewe's parade.
In 1976, Jimmy Buffett performed at the Superdome, followed by Willie Nelson in 1977, the Commodores and Fats Domino in 1978, Kenny Rogers in 1979, Hank Williams Jr. in 1981, and Lil Wayne in 2018, one of the
Top facts about Caesars Superdome.
On March 12, 1984, Governor Edwin Edwards celebrated his third inaugural ball at the Superdome.
Doug Kershaw and Susan Anton were among the headliners. In the summer of 1987, the Jets played a whole set to an empty Superdome due to a scheduling mix-up, another one of the Top facts about Caesars Superdome.
Since 1995, the annual Essence Music Festival has been hosted in the Superdome (with the exception of 2006, when it was held in Houston, Texas due to Hurricane Katrina repairs, and 2020 when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Caesars Superdome Sheltering the Residents during Hurricane Katrina
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005, the Superdome was used as a "shelter of last resort" for those who were unable to evacuate.
High winds pulled off a big part of the exterior coating during the storm. The photographs of the destruction, which revealed the concrete beneath, immediately became a symbol of Hurricane Katrina, one of the Top facts about Caesars Superdome. The dome was closed a few days later, until September 25, 2006.
Two elderly medical patients and a man who is suspected to have committed suicide by jumping from the upper-level seats had died at the Superdome by August 31.
Inside the Superdome, there were also unconfirmed reports of rape, vandalism, violent assaults, crack dealing/drug abuse and gang activity.
The National Guard inside the Superdome utilized barbed wire fences to separate themselves from the other people in the dome after a National Guardsman was attacked and shot in the dark by an assailant.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass announced on September 11 that "no confirmed reports of any type of sexual assault" had been received.
During the chaos that followed the hurricane, US Navy sniper Chris Kyle said that he and another sniper went to the top of the dome and killed 30 armed looters, another one of the
Top facts about Caesars Superdome.
This claim has never been officially verified, and there is no evidence of dozens of people being killed by a sniper or gunman, with criticism stating that 30 people being killed without anyone noticing or reporting it to the media or the police would be unlikely.
Kyle's story was featured in a variety of newspapers, including The New Yorker, and Kyle told other military men about it.
The cost of repairing and refurbishing the Superdome was $185 million. FEMA put up $115 million to repair the Superdome.
The state paid $13 million, the Louisiana Stadium & Exposition District refinanced a bond package to get $41 million, and the National Football League contributed $15 million.
For the 2006 season, a new Sportexe MomentumTurf surface was installed after it had been devastated by the flooding disaster.
On February 5, 2006, the NFL announced that the Saints would play the Atlanta Falcons in the Superdome for their home opener on September 24, 2006. The game was eventually rescheduled for September 25.
Before fans were allowed in, there was a free outdoor concert by the Goo Goo Dolls, a pre-game performance by U2 and Green Day playing a cover of the Skids' "The Saints Are Coming," and a coin toss conducted by then-President George W. Bush.
The Saints won the game 23–3 in front of ESPN's largest-ever audience at the time, with 70,003 in attendance, and went on to have a successful season, reaching their first-ever NFC Championship Game.
Caesars Superdome Sporting Events
The Superdome's major tenant is the NFL's New Orleans Saints. The team often draws capacity crowds. The NFL has staged seven Super Bowls at the Superdome, most recently Super Bowl XLVII in 2013.
Glen and Dave Myatt launched the wave at the 2013 Super Bowl after the power outage. The Superdome is set to host Super Bowl LIX in 2025.
The 1976 Pro Bowl was staged at the Superdome on Monday, January 26, 1976. It was the NFL's 26th annual all-star game.
The BCS National Championship Game was played at the Superdome 4 times. The College Football Playoff semifinal game is played every three years in the stadium. Two more bowl games are also played there annually: the Sugar Bowl and the New Orleans Bowl.
The bowl was modified in a makeover from 2006 to 2011, which replaced the moveable seats with a pre-cast concrete deck and repositioned the seating closer to the field, adding 3,500 new seats in the lower bowl.
This made the bowl more ideal for football, but less conducive for baseball. The inaugural baseball game at the Superdome was an exhibition between the Minnesota Twins and the Houston Astros on April 6, 1976.
45,152 fans watched the Yankees beat the Orioles 9–3 on March 15, 1980. The following day, 43,339 fans witnessed Floyd Rayford lead the Orioles to a 7–1 win over the Yankees. In 1981, the Yankees faced the New York Mets, Philadelphia Philles, and Pittsburgh Pirates in the dome.
The NCAA has hosted the Men's Final Four at the Superdome five times: 1982, 1987, 1993, 2003, and 2012. The Men's Final Four is also planned to be hosted at the Superdome in 2022. The stadium held regional semifinals and finals in 1981 and 1990, as well as first and second-round games in 1999 and 2001.
The NBA's New Orleans Jazz utilized the Superdome as their home court, from 1975 until 1979. In 1977, the Jazz established a then-record in attendance for an NBA game, with 35,077 watching the Jazz led by Pete "Pistol Pete" Maravich versus the Philadelphia 76ers, led by fellow future Hall of Famer Julius Erving.
The Superdome's first soccer matches were on September 5, 1976. In a doubleheader, two local club teams (Costa Rica and Olympia) squared off, followed by a post-season North American Soccer League clash between the New York Cosmos and the Dallas Tornado.
Pele and Kyle Rote, Jr. led their respective teams, but it was Werner Roth and Ramon Mifflin who tallied goals for New York in the Cosmos' 2–1 victory.
The U.S. women's national team met China in the Superdome on December 16, 2015, in what was both the final match of the USWNT's post-World Cup Victory Tour, as well as Abby Wambach's final game for the national team.
China prevailed 1–0, in front of 32,950 fans: a record-setting attendance for a soccer match in Louisiana. On October 19, 2017, the USWNT played an international friendly against the
Korea Republic, beating them 3–1.
Alex Morgannetted in the 40th minute for the United States, earning her 78th career goal.
Appreciation Day was held in the Dome on October 14, 1975. The activities were arranged by the Muhammad Temple of Islam 46 in New Orleans, with Ali's appearance as the day's highlight. Dr. Na'im Akbar, Wallace D. Muhammad, and Louis Farrakhan were among the speakers.
One of the Top facts about Caesars Superdome is that it hosted the Ali rematch on September 15, 1978, when Muhammad Ali defeated Leon Spinks in front of a crowd of 65,000 to win the World Heavyweight title for the third time, Ali's last professional victory.
Many of Mid-South Wrestling's major "Blow Off" events, which culminated weeks or months of feuds and rivalries, were held at the Superdome. Bill Watts, the territory's promoter, got a lot of attention by promoting his shows in the Superdome.
The first of three annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournaments were held on April 19, 1986, by Jim Crockett Promotions (in cooperation with Bill Watts' UWF and All Japan Pro Wrestling). A total of 24 teams competed in a single-day show, with preliminary rounds in the afternoon and finals in the evening.
WrestleMania, WWE's main pay-per-view, has been held twice at the Superdome. It hosted WrestleMania XXX for the first time on April 6, 2014, with
Brock Lesnarbreaking The Undertaker's long winning streak at the event. For WrestleMania 34 in 2018, WrestleMania returned to the Superdome.
Read More:
DISCLAIMER! Sportmob does not claim ownership of any of the pictures posted on this website. Again, we do not host pictures or videos ourselves. Our authors merely link to the rightful owner. Lastly, Sportmob have carefully considered and reviewed all of its content. Despite that, it is possible that some information might be out-dated or incomplete.