The sports world recently had all eyes on New Orleans, Louisiana for the Super Bowl. The Philadelphia Eagles denied the Kansas City Chiefs a “three-peat” and it will have the interesting footnote of being the first Super Bowl to have a sitting United States President in attendance. The Caesar’s Super Dome, home of the New Orleans Saints, hosted its 11th Super Bowl, and tied for the NFL’s all-time lead for a host city.
New Orleans loves football and their Saints, but other sports teams tend to struggle in the Big Easy. It was surprising when it was announced Wednesday that the NHL held a meeting with investors that would want to potentially bring an expansion NHL team to New Orleans. For a variety of reasons we don’t see that happening. We didn’t see Salt Lake City getting an NHL team so quickly, but there are plenty of more factors holding back New Orleans than Utah.
First and foremost is the lack of arena. New Orleans, like Salt Lake City, does have an NBA team with an NBA arena. The New Orleans Pelicans have played at the Smoothie King Center since their relocation from Charlotte, North Carolina in 2002. Even before the NBA came to town the arena hosted an ECHL team when the New Orleans Brass played there from 1999-2002. The Smoothie King Center has a listed potential ice hockey capacity of 16,900, compared to Delta Center’s (home of the Utah Hockey Club) has a capacity of 16,020, but only 11,131 unobstructed seats.
Don’t let that fool you into thinking the Smoothie King Center is suitable
The now well over 20-year-old arena was recently ranked second to last in the NBA by ESPN. ESPN specifically cited poor amenities, concessions and location while calling it “an arena in crisis”. For reference, Utah’s home was ranked middle of the pack at 15. A few seasons back there was even a problem with cars being broken into in the arena’s parking lot during games.
A 2024 study found that minimal improvements have been made since the stadium’s opening and that it was in need of major improvements. Nothing about the arena’s current state should inspire the NHL that it’s a suitable place for one of their franchises.
Just as alarming is the city’s bad luck with teams not named “The Saints”. While the city does have its own NBA team their tenure in the Crescent City hasn’t been all beignets and bourbon. At one point in 2010 the franchise was in such financial distress the league itself purchased the team ala Phoenix Coyote’s style (the team has since been sold to the same owner as the Saints). The NHL already had to deal with one decades-long saga of a team’s financial mess. Even if the Hornets-turned-Pelicans ownership has stabilized they still have a problem filling seats. This season they rank 26th in the 30 team league.
The city also lost its minor league baseball team in 2019 when the New Orleans Baby Cakes (named after a famous local pastry with a terrifying mascot) relocated to Wichita, Kansas. What about the city’s old ECHL team? The Brass actually had a decent fan base and decent on ice success. What did them in was that the cost of basketball to ice hockey conversations at the Smoothie King Center (then under a different name) was going to be their responsibility and that was a cost they could not afford. Their previous arena had gotten rid of their ice making equipment, making the team pretty much homeless and left to fold.
What do we think of the NHL’s meeting with the New Orleans group?
It hasn’t been announced who exactly the investors are, but let’s assume they fit the bill of most sports investors these days in that they were bunch a bunch of rich guys who want to own a team. They saw the NHL expand and give Salt Lake City a team and figured maybe there was a chance. The NHL has a duty to listen to potential ownership groups with the means to own a team, like Ryan Smith in Utah before he officially became an owner.
Even if New Orleans isn’t on the NHL’s radar, listening to the group at least gave them a decent gauge of interest in the sport in the arena. Maybe even with all its drawbacks the league will give Smoothie King Center a preseason game or two. The FPHL currently has two minor league teams in Louisiana with the “Baton Rogue Zydeco” and “Monroe Moccasins”. Both teams are top five in league attendance.