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N O L A.C O M
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T h u r s d ay, F e b r u a ry 6, 2025
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FOR THE FANS ‘Experiential and exhibitory’ Super Bowl Experience opens
Cantrell questions school funding crisis
After nixing $20M deal, mayor blames district BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
The Super Bowl Experience opened to fans at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on Wednesday. BY MISSY WILKINSON and DESIREE STENNETT Staff writers
Scoring a seat at the Super Bowl requires deep pockets, luck or some combination of the two. But for a tiny fraction of the cost of the cheapest tickets, football fans can mingle with star players, see the Vince Lombardi Trophy and measure their knuckles against a glittering display of 58 Super Bowl rings — no insider connections required. “We know not everybody is lucky enough to get that coveted Super Bowl ticket,” said Nicki Ewell, senior director of NFL Events at a media preview at the Super Bowl Experience event. “But we still want those that are local or visiting
to know this is for them — for fans of all ages.” The event transforms 700,000 square feet — an area roughly the size of 12 full NFL football fields — at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center into an “experiential and exhibitory space,” Ewell said. As the doors opened to the public Wednesday, football fans poured into the Convention Center from across Louisiana and the nation. Dwight Pleasant, a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fan since age 12, was there with his wife, Martha, who quipped that she “married into” the fandom. They don’t have tickets to the big game, but traveled from New Jersey for the pregame festivities, another trip in a long
ä See SCHOOL, page 6A FEB. 9 • NEW ORLEANS
ä More photos from the Super Bowl Experience. Page 4A ä Jon Batiste hosting ‘love riot’ on Saturday. Page 5A ä More on the game in ä See FANS, page 5A Sports. Page 1C
Security ramps up in French Quarter Military, police forces grow as Super Bowl crowds build Staff writer
ä See SECURITY, page 6A
WEATHER HIGH 78 LOW 64 PAGE 8B
Palestinians reject Gaza takeover by Trump BY WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press
BY MISSY WILKINSON From helicopters churning in the skies above the French Quarter to Louisiana National Guard members toting M4 rifles alongside revelers gripping Hand Grenade cocktails on Bourbon Street, the full force of the massive law enforcement presence in New Orleans came into focus Wednesday as Super Bowl crowds began building. Heavy metal barricades, bollards, arches and wedges in varying configurations cluttered nearly every block of the Vieux Carre, often manned by soldiers. Federal homeland security agents also stood guard, some equipped with tactical off-road Polaris vehicles. On other streets, state agents kept watch.
As Mayor LaToya Cantrell took heat this week after holding up a deal to give New Orleans schools $20 million, she sought to redirect focus to the school district’s financial crisis that has made it desperate for the money. Accusing unnamed district or School Board officials of “financial mismanagement,” Cantrell said it would be irresponsible for the city to hand over the money without a better understanding of the district’s fiscal mess. “There has been a lack of transparency, accountability, and clear answers” from the Orleans Parish School Board, the Mayor’s Office said in a statement Monday, hours after a chorus of elected officials and school leaders slammed the mayor’s decision to back out of the $20 million deal. The payment was meant to settle a long-running legal dispute between the city and the school district over tax collection.
STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
Barricades block Bourbon Street on Wednesday as crowds grow in New Orleans ahead of the Super Bowl.
Business ......................8A Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Saeed Abu Elaish’s wife, two of his daughters and two dozen others from his extended family were killed by Israeli airstrikes over the past 15 months. His house in northern Gaza was destroyed. He and his surviving family now live in a tent set up in the rubble of his home. But he says he will not be driven out after President Donald Trump called for transferring all Palestinians from Gaza so the United States could take over the devastated territory and rebuild it for others. Rights groups said his comments were tantamount to a call for “ethnic cleansing” and forcible expulsion. “We categorically reject and
ä See GAZA, page 7A
12TH YEAR, NO. 178