(The Center Square) − Return on investment for the Super Bowl played nearly eight months ago was lower than expected, says New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration.
In a PowerPoint presentation for the 2026 executive budget on Wednesday, a slide early on the challenges after COVID-19 included a bullet point saying “it has become clear that our return on investment for the Super Bowl was lower than expected.”
Gov. Jeff Landry, in a June 3 statement with others, said economic impact of Super Bowl 59 was $1.25 billion statewide. Within that, he and key leaders for hosting the game said 100,000 of t he 115,000 in attendance came from out of state, and $658 million was spent by visitors and vendors.
“Costs of services remain elevated, public facilities and infrastructure must continually be repaired and improved, and higher investment is needed to move the city forward,” the mayor’s presentation said.
Before briefing the council on the 2026 spending plan, Chief Administrative Officer Joseph Threat said headline fund-balance figures mask a tight cash position. The city’s 2024 audit, he said, showed an ending fund balance of $205 million, but only about $40 million was cash on hand, with the rest tied up in receivables whose timing is “unpredictable.”
“Today, we are currently operating in a fiscal deficit and very lean on cash by spending more revenue than is being brought in,” Threat said.
His immediate priorities heading into early 2026: curtail overtime, control spending while generating additional revenue, and maintain public safety and core operations at an acceptable level.
Threat said several factors pushed 2025 expenses higher. One was on Jan. 1, when lawmen say Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a truck into a crowd of people killing 14. Jabbar was the 15th killed. Threat said the incided created a “cascading impact” on public-safety costs at subsequent special events.
A record-breaking snow storm of 8 inches on Jan. 21 was another factor, he said.
Those shocks prompted “additional unexpected use of fund balance in 2025,” he said, and the city should expect elevated costs for large events, including Mardi Gras.
