28-01-2025
NFL requires controversial agreement for cities hosting the Super Bowl
New Orleans is dipping its toes yet again into a brewing philosophical and legal debate with the NFL over so-called clean zones.
Why it matters: Clean zones give the league much more control over what happens in town during the Super Bowl. In exchange for handing over that authority, cities get the moneymaking opportunity to host such events.
But critics say the rules infringe on free speech and businesses' ability to operate.
The big picture: Clean zones are used across the country as essentially a non-compete option for big events such as the NCAA Final Four, Essence Fest and other moneymakers.
They limit street vendors, exterior marketing and outdoor festivities in the specified geographic zone during a certain timeframe.
New Orleans leaders use these zones to help entice organizers to host their multimillion-dollar events in the city. It was part of their bid for the Super Bowl.
How it works: If there's a clean zone in effect, street vendors must apply for a special permit to operate. There are also dozens of rules about outdoor marketing, tents, signs and other elements that would "enhance local aesthetics," a document says.
The geographical parameters can change, but in New Orleans they usually include much of the CBD and French Quarter.
The rules can be big, like not granting a festival permit in the French Quarter during Super Bowl, or small, such as requiring delivery trucks to paint over their tire logos because they weren't made by Bridgestone, the official tire of the NFL, ESPN wrote.
The tire example actually happened in Houston in 2017.
The friction point: Clean zones have been getting more pushback locally and nationally over free speech and constitutionality concerns, ESPN reported.
The city has been sued at least twice over the clean zones for previous Super Bowls and French Quarter Fests, wrote. Phoenix was sued last year over the restrictions, ESPN reported.
In 2023, Baldwin Books made headlines when Essence Fest sued it and an event organizer, saying they violated the clean zone rules.
A First Amendment lawyer who was involved in a 2013 Super Bowl clean zone lawsuit told Verite's Katie Jane Fernelius that he has concerns about this year's Super Bowl, namely the geographic size and the requirement that political speech and protests occur in a cordoned-off area.
The other side: Walt Leger, president and CEO of New Orleans & Co., says the clean zone is misunderstood and doesn't stop businesses from doing things that are already covered in their current permits.
It's meant to protect intellectual property and to keep, for example, a business such as Coke from doing guerrilla marketing near the Caesars Superdome when Pepsi is the NFL's official sponsor, he said.
The NFL also cites this example, saying Budweiser, which was not a league partner at the time, was doing pop-up marketing near the Super Bowl in 1999, prompting the need for more rules, ESPN reports.
"I understand why people get upset about it, but it's confusing to me why it's become such a hot button issue," Leger tells Axios New Orleans.
The fine print: The Super Bowl clean zone is in effect from Feb. 3 to Feb. 11 and includes parts of the Central Business District, French Quarter, Treme, Tulane-Gravier, Mississippi River and Algiers.
It also includes Caesars Superdome, the Smoothie King Center or the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
Violators can be fined and/or arrested. Read the ordinance.
Go deeper:
Essence Fest drops lawsuit against Black-owned bookstore over author event
Watch the City Council discussion about the clean zone
