Superdome Reopens for NFL Monday Night Match-Up

September 25, 2006

Superdome Reopens for NFL Monday Night Match-Up
Sept. 25, 2006 – The Louisiana Superdome will reopen today, as the New Orleans Saints take on the Atlanta Falcons. The Saints return to the dome for a sold-out Monday Night Football match-up to showcase the stadium’s new renovations. Some 30,000 hurricane refugees were sheltered at the Superdome following Hurricane Katrina. After $184 million in repair, the Louisiana Superdome is back in business just 13 months later.

U2, Green Day and the Goo Goo Dolls will give a pre-game performance, trumpeting the first event at the Superdome since the hurricane. Former President George H.W. Bush will handle the pre-game coin toss and he will be joined by 150 Katrina first responders. Present and former NFL commissioners, Louisiana’s governor and the city’s mayor also will be on hand.

The New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons are unbeaten archrivals. Live coverage begins at 8:20 p.m. ET on ESPN with a simultaneous Westwood One broadcast offered non-exclusively to stations worldwide. Rhapsody will stream the audio, and a special track and video download will be sold for a limited time after the event at rhapsody.com/musicrising.

The return to the Superdome is expected to help boost tourism.

"We’re seeing demand for rooms is up and it peaks on Monday night," said Bill Langkopp, executive director of the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association. "That’s very rare, but that’s what’s happening, so it must be people coming to town for the game."

This weekend, Langkopp said, occupancy is expected to be in the high 80 percent range.

The All-State Sugar Bowl Classic will be played in the Louisiana Superdome on Wednesday, January 3, 2007.