N O L A.C O M
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S u n d ay, F e b r u a ry 9, 2025
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$2.50X
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS VS. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES • 5:30 P.M. • FOX
READY FOR SOME
FOOTBALL
After all the hoopla, parties and preparation, Super Bowl LIX is finally here Are you ready for some football? At approximately 5:30 p.m. Sunday, either a Kansas City Chief or a Philadelphia Eagle will kick off Super Bowl LIX in the Caesars Superdome. The 11th Super Bowl hosted by New Orleans is finally at hand after years of planning and months of feverishly fixing up the French Quarter and downtown. New Orleans’ pre-Super Bowl scramble was like a last-minute, citywide house cleaning before company arrives. The disruption of January’s once-in-a-century snowstorm didn’t help. Keith As hosts, we can only hope that Spera our guests have so much fun that they don’t notice — or don’t remember — what wasn’t finished. When it’s go-time for a good time, New Orleans shines, as the past few days of wall-towall parties, concerts and special events have demonstrated. As with Mardi Gras, it’s possible to escape the big event by sticking to certain parts of the city. But downtown, the Super Bowl dominates. Back in November, Mayor LaToya Cantrell gave homegrown rap star Lil Wayne an honorary key to the city. Last week, New Orleans essentially tossed the keys to the NFL and said, “Here you go. The city is yours. Enjoy.”
People gather outside the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter on Friday.
Going with the flow
ä See FOOTBALL, page 12A
INSIDE ä Super Bowl LIX
special section.
PREVIEW SUPER BOWL LIX
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Ry 9, 2025 S U N DAy, F E B R U A
The Old Absinthe House at Bourbon and Bienville is the nexus of good times during the Super Bowl
ä Rod Walker’s A-Z
guide to Super Bowl LIX. PAGE 1C ä Eagles’ last Super Bowl loss to Chiefs ‘lit a flame.’ PAGE 1C ä Chiefs QB Mahomes can add to legacy in New Orleans. STAFF ILLUSTRATION By TANyA RAMIREZ
PAGE 1C
ä See photos from
the Super Bowl parade in New Orleans. PAGES 16A, 1B
PHIL ADELPHIA E AGL
ES VS. K ANSAS CIT y
C H I E F S • 5 : 3 0 P. M . S
U N D Ay • F O X
ary run as big game returns Eagles take aim at Chiefs’ legend
Jon Batiste leads a second-line during the Love Riot Festival, a ‘day of hope and celebration’ on the campus of George Washington Carver High School in New Orleans’ 9th Ward on Saturday in advance of Super Bowl LIX. STAFF PHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
back a round of blue-colored shots, lock arms and It’s 5:30 p.m. Friday, and the Old Absinthe wail the Lions fight song in unison. House is starting to peak. “It’s starting to pick up a bit,” said Erin Aubert, Two days before Super Bowl LIX, the crowd the Old Absinthe House’s bar manager, above the has thickened inside the iconic Bourbon Street din. “We were a little worried earlier this week, watering hole. Elbow room is scarce. Four but this is more like what we expected.” black-shirted bartenders energetically whirl in If the French Quarter is the heart of New Orconstant orbit behind the rectangular, brassJeff plated bar. Duncan leans during Super Bowl week, the Old Absinthe In one corner, a group of red-clad Kansas House is its aortic valve, the nexus at the busy City fans excitedly point to Johnny Robinson’s intersection of Bourbon and Bienville streets by vintage Chiefs helmet hanging above the bar and pose which everything flows. for selfies. Across the street is the Royal Sonesta with its greased In another corner, a pod of nattily dressed NFL exbalcony poles, where members of the Pittsburgh ecutives huddle and raise their drinks in toast. ä See FLOW, page 8A In the back, six blue-clad Detroit Lions fans throw
to New Orleans
‘IT’S ABOUT ALL OF Y’ALL’ Jon Batiste and friends stage a Love Riot in New Orleans
BY KEITH SPERA | Staff writer On the day before one of the biggest gigs of his life, Jon Batiste did not take it easy. Barely 24 hours before singing the national anthem at Super Bowl LIX, Batiste presided over a sweaty, all-star revue at a mini-festival in the 9th Ward on Saturday afternoon. His special guests ranged from fellow New Orleanian Ledisi, who will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in the Caesars Superdome on Sunday, to Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav. “He Gets Us presents Jon Batiste’s Love Riot Festival” was announced this week as a “day of hope and celebration” on the campus of George Washington Carver High School.
ä See BATISTE, page 17A
WEATHER HIGH 80 LOW 66 PAGE 8B
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World ................2A Classified ..................... 1F Living............................1D Opinion ........................6B Commentary ................7B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
12TH yEAR, NO. 181