New Orleans has been home to seven Super Bowls, seven NCAA football championships, nine Men's and Women's Final Fours and countless other sporting events.
Local tourism officials are readying a pitch, if successful, may make the city host to a global event watched by nearly 900M viewers that many along the Gulf Coast may never have heard of - the Rugby World Cup.
It is the international rugby championship that has grown to becoming the third-largest world sporting event after the Summer Olympics and the FIFA Men's World Cup finals. It’s coming to America in 2031.
The city's tourism/sports promoters say there’s a good chance the Caesars Superdome will be one of the venues for the event and could host the final.
"It may be eight years out but we're trying to get ahead of the curve," said Tim Falcon, owner of professional New Orleans rugby team Nola Gold, which was an early joiner of the 12-team Major League Rugby and plays its games at the Shrine on Airline.
A "summit" was held in New Orleans in the spring, he said, when Walt Leger, head of New Orleans & Co., Doug Thornton, who heads the company that manages the Caesars Superdome, and others hosted officials from the Rugby World Cup Council and USA Rugby.
Nola Gold will hold a fan-friendly event at Finn McCool's pub in Mid-City on Sept. 8 to kick off its pitch. It will coincide with the start of this year's Rugby World Cup series in France. (NOLA.com 09/05/23) New Orleans aims to host 2031 Rugby World Cup | Business News | nola.com
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