No. 24: New Orleans
Score: 31.0
We heard it repeatedly: New Orleans is a great place to attend — and conduct business at — top-tier events, like the Allstate Sugar Bowl (played there since 1935); PGA Tour Zurich Classic of New Orleans (since 1958); New Orleans Saints games (1967); recent NBA All-Star and CFP championship games; and the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four.
Executives love the downtown, where Caesars Superdome (a $450 million renovation is underway in advance of Super Bowl LIX), Smoothie King Center and the Sun Belt Conference headquarters are a short distance from each other. But hotel rooms are expensive (an average of $176 per night) and the 18.2% room tax is second only to St. Louis among our top 50 markets.
Sponsors (2): New Orleans was home to the fewest sponsors of any major league market even before Smoothie King, which has naming rights to the Pelicans arena, moved to Dallas in 2018.
What they’re saying: “This could be the Super Bowl city every single year.” — D.B.