New Orleans police say a man carrying his family's Super Bowl tickets in his rear pants pocket lost them to a pickpocket as he left Harrah's Casino.
Investigators say a man in a jogging suit and dark knit cap followed the family as it left the casino near the French Quarter just before 11 p.m. on Saturday.
They say the suspect walked up behind the unidentified victim and took an envelope containing seven Super Bowl tickets.
Police said the suspect met four other men and two women on nearby Canal Street and the group left the scene.
The New Orleans Saints are getting a $5 million payment from the state because the Big Easy is hosting the Super Bowl.
The incentive was included in the 2009 deal between Gov. Bobby Jindal and Saints owner Tom Benson to keep the Saints in Louisiana through 2025.
The money is owed to the NFL team by June 30. Lawmakers will be asked to budget the payment in their upcoming legislative session.
The Jindal administration says the Super Bowl payment to the Saints won't come from the state's general fund at the expense of items like health services and education programs.
Originally published on Tue February 5, 2013 10:12 am
Preliminary data from the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation shows Super Bowl XLVII brought an estimated 150,000 visitors to New Orleans, and is expected to rake in an estimated $432 million for the city’s economy.
Just about 80 miles up the road here in the capital city, tourism spill-over from the Super Bowl-boom gave Baton Rouge a bit of an economic bump as well.
Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Paul Arrigo says Baton Rouge started planning for Super Bowl 2013 in 2009, when New Orleans was initially chosen for the site.
